Why China loves the number 51.
Just enter 51 in Baidu search and you’ll see many domains starting with the number 51. What is significant about this number in China?
Well, when you say 51 in Chinese, it sounds like many Pinyin phrases. One of them is Wo Yao (我要=I want), which is useful as a call to action. Here are some examples.
51Talk.com provides online one-to-one English tutoring services. Actually, “51Talk” is the Chinese brand for the services. The company started in 2011 and succeeded in listing on NYSE in 2016. In “51Talk”, 51 rhymes with Wo Yao (我要=I want) and “Talk” is an English word. Together, the domain means “I want to talk (to the world)”.
51BXG.com was launched in 2011 as a nationwide portal providing news, market prices, inventory levels, and a variety of information about stainless steel products. In “51BXG”, 51 rhymes with Wo Yao (我要=I want) and BXG is the acronym for Bu Xiu Gang (不锈钢=stainless steel). Together, the domain means “I want to (know) stainless steel”.
51Wan.com is a game platform for fee-paying members. The service was launched in 2007 and membership exceeded 100 million by 2017. In “51Wan”, 51 rhymes with Wo Yao (我要=I want) and Wan is the Pinyin word for 玩 (=play). Together, the domain means “I want to play (games)”.
51.la is a very interesting case because .la is the country extension of Laos which also happens to be the Pinyin word for 啦 (indicating exclamation). The service was launched 16 years ago to help webmasters monitor/analyze visitors and currently it has 3.5 million registered webmasters. “51.la” means “I want it!”
Apart from Wo Yao (我要=I want), 51 also rhymes with other Pinyin phrases such as Wei Yi (唯一=one and only one), Wu You (无忧=without worries), and Wu Yi (武艺=martial art). In my opinion, the 51-prefix allows you to create a Chinese brand and then register the matching domain in a low-cost way.
Thanks for the information and article Kassey.
You are welcome, Alech.
In China, you can order McDonal’s nation wide using a phone number ending on 517 517 that sounds like 我要吃我要吃 (I want to eat, I want to eat). Horrible food but good marketing.
Thanks for the info, John. Very meaningful number to remember. I wonder how long phone will remain as a tool to order something/
I think very few people in China still use this way of ordering something. I remember the number just because I thought it was a clever use of these numbers. Thank you for your analysis of the Chinese market by the way!
你的中文很好，谢谢！
Kasey, you uncover the most interesting things. Thank you.
Kassey.
Thanks for the kind words, Joe. That’s why I enjoy researching the Chinese domain market. There are always surprises.
yes, fascinating section, kassey…thank you
Thanks Steve. Glad to know that.
Love these interesting bits and pieces about the Chinese market, please keep em up Kassey!
#51tolearnmore
Joern
There is also the Nasdaq-listed 51job.com.
https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/51job#section-overview