Chinese characters that represent numbers also have their own special meanings.
Two (er, “two”)
As we know, the Chinese people believe that everything in the universe possesses two properties: “yin” and “yang”. Laozi also said: “one created two”. This means that the primeval “one” possessed the properties of both “yin” and “yang”. Because the Chinese people are fond of the number “two”, there are many Chinese words and phrases related to this number. Examples include “yi shi er niao” (kill two birds with one stone—achieve two goals by performing a single act); “hao shi cheng shuang(also means ‘two’ or ‘a pair’)” (there are two good/happy things); “shuang xi lin men” (two good/happy things happen simultaneously); and “liang (two) quan qi mei” (make the best of both worlds).
In addition, when the Chinese give alcohol or some other things as a gift, they like to give it in pairs. This reflects the Chinese people’s affinity for the number “two”.