After two weeks in China, I have reformed the way I demonstrate the number 3 using my hands. In America, if we want to show 3, we hold up our first, middle, and ring finger in a W shape. In China, they make a circle with their thumb and first finger, holding up the middle, ring, and pinky in a slanted W. This change was involuntary and I had no idea until I saw myself do it in the mirror while I was thinking to myself.
The one cool thing about the Chinese way of expressing numbers by hand is that they have a way to show all numbers up to 10 on one hand. Those of us in the Western world can't claim the same. See diagram below.
