Can feng shui reap profits?

Feng shui is coming back in China, but this time, it is not in the name of science, but on the stock exchange.

This year, a Singaporean company decided to help turn feng shui into a mainstream business and separate itself from the chaotic and dramatic feng shui industry in China by listing on the stock exchange.

The company, New Trend Lifestyle Group (NTL), raised $2.35 million and listed its shares on London's Alternative Investment Market in June. Founded in Singapore in 2005, the company now has about 180 employees working in 15 stores in Singapore, Malaysia,  Thailand, Indonesia, and China's mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The founder, 46-year-old Phang Songhua, also known as Master Phang, said the company plans to open 50 stores across the mainland in three years.

Feng shui, meaning wind-water, is an ancient Chinese art governing the creation and use of living spaces, allowing them to be in harmony with universal energy. However, it has been commonly denigrated as a superstition by authorities. The debate as to whether feng shui is timeless philosophy or silly superstition has been raging for years.

"The idea of getting listed on a stock exchange is to turn feng shui into mainstream," Master Phang told the Global Times.

The practice of feng shui is not officially banned on the mainland, but nor is it encouraged.

After feng shui began growing in recognition in the Western market, Phang seems very optimistic about prospects in China where feng shui originated thousands of years ago.

Only in China, people take it far more seriously than as simply a way of arranging furniture.

"Rome wasn't built in a day, I will do it step by step till feng shui is fully accepted," he added.

When elements meet

Zhang Qiming, professor with the Institute of Sinology Studies of Renmin University of China, told the Global Times that NTL might set an example for Chinese feng shui companies.

"I am not surprised at this listing move by NTL, Chinese companies might follow suit," he said.

In Singapore, NTL's clients are mainly business people, and 10 percent are Singaporean enterprises such as City Bank.

Experts believe the booming economy in China, especially in real estate, is one of the factors that is helping to heat up the feng shui market. According to the Hurun Wealth Report 2011, one out of every 1,400 Chinese residents, or 960,000 individuals, has assets worth at least 10 million yuan ($1.57 million), 9.7 percent up on 2010.

"People all have the desire to peek into their future. Well-educated and open-minded business people feel more comfortable to use feng shui to do it," said master Phang.

Differing from many feng shui masters in the mainland who work on their own, master Phang works with teams to promote his company. He often frequents the mainland to give talks and lectures. He is a common guest on TV talk shows, writes books and even publishes his own feng shui magazine.

However, as the authorities still remain skeptical about the feng shui business, Phang's companies have not been able to register under the name of feng shui, using names such as Tarot World.

In 2010, NTL opened six chain stores in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Guangdong Province. Their business in China ranges from helping to name a newborn baby to analyzing couples' suitability before marriage.

But these services do not come cheap. For example, getting advice on how to create a harmonious environment in an office costs 188 yuan per square meter, or 88 yuan per square meter for a private home.

The growing number of stressed or depressed officials also seems to be another source of demand for feng shui masters. About 52.4 percent of 900 county-level officials surveyed said that they believe in feng shui, according to a survey released by the Chinese Academy of Governance in 2007.

"A feng shui master has become a sort of psychologist for many Chinese people who have no religion," said professor Zhang Gongyao, director of science and technology at the Social Development Research Institute of Central South University.

"When they are afraid to face uncertainty about the future, they talk to these masters, who will help them calm down and tell them what to do," zhang said.

Wang Yinfeng, a former district Party chief in Chongqing municipality, threatened a real estate developer as a construction project was believed to be ruining the feng shui of the adjacent government building, the Xinhua News Agency reported. Wang was promoted to deputy secretary-general of Chongqing municipal government last year.

Philosophy or sham?

In 2007, a Shanghai organization tried to bring feng shui into the mainstream but failed.

The Shanghai Life Aesthetics Association, a member of the Shanghai Social Sciences Association, planned to apply to make feng shui a "municipal intangible cultural heritage." The plan was smashed due to the controversy it caused.

Zhang Liangren, vice chairman of the organization, was quoted by the Oriental Morning Post as saying that the main reason for the failure was "because many people and government officials think it is superstition."

"The biggest obstacle is that there is no true representative of feng shui. Many feng shui masters only aim to make money," Zhang Liming, director of the Shanghai Municipal Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center, pointed out.

Feng shui market

In recent years, feng shui has become an increasingly popular calling. Whenever national studies of Chinese traditional culture have been conducted on the mainland in recent years, various trainings about traditional cultural elements, including feng shui, have seen their status growing.

The training is mostly divided into two kinds: one is taught in universities by professors, focusing on theory and cultural tradition, the other is held by feng shui masters, which attracts many business people to learn how to practice the art.

Xu Tong, a fan of feng shui, recently spent 4,000 yuan on a 10-day long course in Beijing. Some well-known masters can charge as much as 60,000 yuan for one-to-one courses.

"The real masters are hidden in office buildings, not working in stores around the Lama Temple in Beijing," he was quoted by China Newsweek magazine.

Even some foreigners are attracted to feng shui courses. Elke Dreher from Germany, who came to China to study Chinese, is one of them.

"People in Germany sometimes invite Chinese feng shui masters to arrange furniture for them," she told the Global Times. "No matter what theories are behind feng shui, it does make you feel better at home."

NTL has also started its own training in Guangdong, with prices ranging from hundreds to thousands of yuan. One of its VIP clients is China Merchants Bank. Master Phang goes there every two or three weeks to give talks about feng shui and investment.

The problem is, the market is becoming saturated with feng shui masters and their credibility is being questioned.

Zhang Gongyao cautions that many so-called feng shui masters are frauds and know little of the real practices.

"Feng shui is nothing but superstition under the cover of science," he said. "It is not the 'feng shui economy' that I worry about, but the self-claimed feng shui masters who have become the guests of honor of the Chinese elite."

Chen, the owner of one company in Zhejiang Province, paid a feng shui master 250,000 yuan to protect her son from being cursed in April. The so-called master turned out to be a con man who mainly preyed on middle-age rich women like Chen, Xinhua reported.

Studying a lost art

In 2005, Nanjing University launched its first "Architecture and Feng Shui" class aimed at teaching Chinese architecture combined with the practice of feng shui. The move again triggered controversy and debate as to whether feng shui was a superstition or Chinese tradition. Three years later, some 130 students had their first "Architecture and Feng shui" lecture at the Wuhan University of Science and Technology's Zhongnan branch.

Zhang Qiming from Renmin University, who teaches traditional Chinese culture, often talks about feng shui in class. He told the Global Times it is because many Chinese are feeling increasingly anxious about their future.

"Feng shui is neither science nor superstition, it is just a cultural phenomenon with a long history. We can neither deny it nor dismiss it," he said.

He said a person's surrounding environment can easily affect their mood. People behave and react differently according to their mood and surroundings. Feng shui seeks to harmonize those very surroundings.

"We have the responsibility to tell people what feng shui really is. It is not a mystery as many people think."

Zhang Saipu, a student at Renmin University who studied feng shui, told the Global Times that he thinks feng shui is not a superstition because it is based on logic.

"Superstition is a very negative word. If we can follow feng shui guidelines properly, we can see their effects on us," he continued.

But not everyone seems to understand feng shui. Zhang Saipu's roommate once pointed to his bed and asked him, "So, should my bed face east or west?"

"If the study of feng shui was recognized by the authorities, my friend would not ask such silly questions," he said.

NTL in Shenzhen has recruited fresh Chinese graduates to join their feng shui business. They are trained to treat every client "like a baby" to help ease their worries and concerns.