Feng shui consultants: masters or con artists?

(Ecns.cn)--China's ancient geomantic system designed to bring good fortune may be under threat from charlatans.

Arranging objects and choosing dates to improve luck is a serious and lucrative business here. Yet the popularity of feng shui has lured many dubious training schools and individuals who are eager to prey on the superstitious.

A survey by soufun.com, the country's top real estate and home furnishing website, found that 85 percent of 4,000 respondents had applied feng shui practices at one time or another.

Such practices are usually expensive, and many are carried out by amateurs, says Han Yong, a reporter from China Newsweek.

Han spent 200 yuan having his fortune told last month near Lama Temple in Beijing, where many so-called feng shui "masters" are located. He later found that the advice could be applied to anyone.

But 200 yuan is nothing: feng shui readings in people's homes can cost thousands of yuan, Han says.

Regardless of their level of expertise, most feng shui practitioners charge customers according to their reactions, explains Xu Tong, who spends at least 1,000 yuan on feng shui every month.

"If you keep nodding, they will charge you heavily, but if you always shake your head disapprovingly, they will ask for less," he says.

Xu told China Newsweek that he had paid 4,000 yuan for a 10-day feng shui course. That was a good deal, he says, given that a recent 3-day trial lecture cost nearly 10,000 yuan.

Han Yong calculated that such a lecture to 30 attendees could bring in 300,000 yuan in just three days.

Critics have complained that such a model does not guarantee quality, however, since there are too many students and too much material taught in a short period.

There is also one-to-one training, for which a feng shui teacher charges an average of 5,000 yuan for a 7-day program. The teacher's monthly earnings can easily reach 20,000 yuan.

Some top-class feng shui experts are treated like superstars, earning appearance fees of over 100,000 yuan, reports China Newsweek.

However, as the market grows, more bogus feng shui practitioners are speculating with unreasonable charges and unprofessional practices.

Critics say some training organizations are deliberately overstating feng shui's effects by mystifying it as a supernatural power and distorting its true nature.

"Feng shui is not an occult science or superstition, but belongs to the field of construction management," Yi Bu, the president of the International Society of I-Ching Culture, told China Daily.

The term feng shui literally means "wind-water." Typical practices include placing two stone lions at a main entrance to defend the wealth within the building. Lobby and courtyard fountains are also popular because they are believed to harness the energy of water, which is an ancient symbol of abundance.

Chinese like to place a feng shui aquarium inside the house or a small pond outside, hoping to increase their chances for wealth and good fortune, since the Chinese word for "fish" (yu) has the same pronunciation as "affluence."

"It is the soul of city planning and architecture in ancient China, reflecting our ancestors' understanding of buildings and space," added Yi Bu.

"Property developers began to value feng shui in their construction projects because potential home-buyers are pleased by their products, which they can sell at a good price," explained Gao Yan, founder and president of the China Feng Shui Culture Institute based in Beijing.

She said more people now want to see the scientific benefits behind feng shui's longevity. "People who used to simply assume that feng shui was feudal superstition have begun to rediscover the mystery of this age-old geomantic culture."