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Welcome back to the Cathay Cafe. Most of us foreigners living in China have heard of Feng Shui, yet the mystery and magic associated with it has convinced the majority of us that it's primarily a dogma of ancient superstitions. Feng Shui is not a religion, although it has roots in both Buddhism and Hinduism (as well as in cosmology and other forms of metaphysics). It is said that it takes a Feng Shui apprentice thirty years to master the art. This being said, I'd like to say that the intention of this article is to simply describe what Feng Shui is; it's not a how-to on channeling its power.

The name Feng Shui originates from China and can be translated to 'Wind and Water.' At its essence, Feng Shui is about living consciously in harmony with Earth and enjoying the highest quality of life possible while residing here. It's the art of balancing and enhancing the flow of natural energies, or Chi, that make up the essence of every person, place and object. Feng Shui has evolved over thousands of years from a folk art to a highly sophisticated system of philosophy and science, often blending the old with the more new age trends and fads of the west. But its ancient form is still practiced by professional consultants throughout China, and is based on the principles of the classic Chinese book, I Ching.

Feng Shui was first used in ancient China about 3000 years ago to determine the most auspicious sites for the tombs of ancestors in order to give them the best vantage to help their living descendants. Later, it started to be used in selecting sites for palaces, important government buildings and monuments, until finally whole cities were designated and built according to Feng Shui principles.

Hong Kong is one such example, and its prosperity is often cited as a prime example of Feng Shui effectiveness. About 90% of all the properties there are built according to Feng Shui protocols. An example of trying to manipulate chi energies, the Hong Kong Bank of China was sued by neighboring businesses because of its construction of a seventy storey building of sharp angles. There's no doubt that the architect of the building knew exactly what he was doing and deliberately designed a structure that sends arrow-like 'killing chi' energy at its competitors. The recourse of the occupants surrounding the building was to erect Feng Shui mirrors in an attempt to reflect the dangerous energy back to its source, and then commence litigation.

Feng Shui is based on the prevailing view of Asians that everything in our environment, living or inanimate, is imbued with energy. This is now no longer considered simply a belief, it's currently a scientific fact that objects and elements are made up of tiny molecules and atoms that vibrate and are constantly in motion. These objects and elements are imbued with an energy that cannot be seen by the naked eye, but they are able to influence our every day life.

The energy (or Chi) of an object, person, or place is very important in Feng Shui. This Chi relates to whatever is in space, and the flow of Chi is unique to every home, business and recreational space. Space is defined as the directional orientation of a structure and is traditionally determined with a Chinese Feng Shui compass. Tools used to evaluate space calculate the Chi field, its Yin and Yang, and the Five Elements.

Chi can be broken into two components: (1) Yin and Yang, representing the opposite forces that are constantly interacting with one another, such as: feminine/masculine; passive/active; destructive/creative; soft/hard; dark/bright. These forces are always moving and always seeking balance. And: (2) The Five Elements, which are water, wood, fire, metal, and earth. These elements are believed to affect everything we do, determining our personalities, our professions, and our degree of success in life. In next month's Freshly Brewed, I'll be writing more about the Feng Shui Elements, and how the arrangement of objects and space can ultimately affect our lives. Stay tuned!

Numbers, Counting and Currency

Obviously, you'll be doing a lot of monetary transactions while you're in China, buying everything from toothpaste to train tickets. Simply learning a few basics will get you by initially, and believe me, you'll pick up communication skills regarding your money very quickly!

Numbers

Counting Indefinite Quantities

There are special measure words used for counting people or other things in Chinese. The most common of these words is guh, which can be used as a universal indicator.

Currency

Chinese currency is called ren meen bee. The RMB dollar, ywahn, is often referred to as kwye, literally meaning a 'unit.' A kwye consists of 100 fen, or 10 jee-aow. Jee-aow are commonly called maow.

Warning: There are a lot of counterfeit bills in China, especially with 50. and 100. RMB notes. You'll need to check your exchanges carefully (yet discreetly, of course). In next month's issue of Freshly Brewed, you'll receive a crash course on how to detect phony money.

In the News...

700 Million People Can Speak Putonghua

Source: China Daily
More than half of Chinese people can speak Putonghua (Mandarin), while nearly 70 percent of urbanites are fluent in the spoken form, according to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Education.

The survey, which canvassed 500,000 people, showed that 53.06 percent of them can effectively communicate verbally in Putonghua. The fluency rate in cities was 66 percent while in rural areas it was 45 percent.

Although the Chinese share the same written form Chinese ideograms or characters, which have been in use for 3,000 years the pronunciation of identical characters differs from region to region. This means people who cannot communicate verbally can do so by writing Chinese characters which have the same literal meaning.

Putonghua, which literally means "common talk", is taught in every school in the country and is China's standard lingua franca.

Most Chinese can speak in the two forms. They can speak putonghua and the dialect of their home region.
The survey also found that 56.76 percent of Chinese men can speak Putonghua, while 49.22 percent of women speak it. About 70 percent of people between the age of 15 and 29 speak Putonghua, while only 30.97 percent between the age of 60 and 69 can speak it.

The survey was conducted in 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities.

Zhao Qinping, vice-minister of education, said on Tuesday that the ministry would focus on promoting Putonghua in the rural areas this year. Lessons in Putonghua will be included in skills training for farmers wanting to migrate to cities to find work.

University student volunteers are also being encouraged to go to the countryside to help rural primary and middle school teachers improve their Putonghua.