In a China flush with fortune, many now want theirs told

In a culture increasingly focused on personal wealth, many Chinese look to traditional fortunetelling tools to enrich them.

from the February 16, 2007 edition

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In a restful room decorated in natural colors to resemble an old Chinese teahouse, Mr. Bao says his clients fall into three main categories. There are those who come to him for his knowledge of feng shui, the belief that the arrangement of rooms and furniture in a home or office that can be auspicious or inauspicious; those who want predictions about their future; and others seeking answers to specific questions they are facing in their lives.

"Friends can come round here for a chat, too," Bao says with a smile, pouring another tiny porcelain cup of fragrant tea.

Bao draws on 20 years of study of Chinese astrology and ancient methods of divination to offer his advice. Some of the charts he draws up are based on the markings found on the shell of a giant turtle taken from the Luo River more than 6,000 years ago, he says. "The knowledge I have is the foundation of Chinese culture. I am trying to promote my own faith," he explains.

He does so through lectures and the occasional article in magazines. His works dare to defy the government's general ban on media coverage of a practice fiercely repressed under Mao Zedong and still officially scorned as feudal superstition.

"My friends are afraid I will get into trouble" he laughs. "But I can predict when difficulties are likely to arise and avoid them. If I couldn't see trouble coming, I'd be in the wrong business."

Bao decries the wave of charlatans who he complains exploit ordinary people's belief in lucky numbers, or the widely held view that 2007 will be a good year for babies but a bad year in which to get married. "These ideas are baseless," he scoffs. "This is a chaotic time for ideas and opinions in China. The people's faith needs guidance."

Recent years have seen a boom in religious belief generally, according to a study by two Shanghai professors published recently that estimated 31.4 percent of Chinese, or 300 million people, are religious – three times the official estimates.

Two-thirds of believers put their faith in traditional Chinese religions such as Buddhism and Taoism or in folk gods such as the Dragon King and the God of Fortune, says the report.

Most ordinary Chinese go to storefront soothsayers for feng shui help, or advice on personal and business affairs. Wealthier citizens have the choice of visiting companies such as "Luckings," a corporate prognosticator on the 19th floor of an office tower in North Beijing.

There they can consult counselors like Feng Shengting, a smooth young man in a powder blue jacket with a nice line in patter and impressive calligraphy. In 15 minutes he can run you off a chart to help you make the right business decision for 1,500 RMB ($195), based solely on the time at which you walked through his door. He claims an 85 percent accuracy rate.

His boss Wang Fenglin, who drums up business on a smartly designed website, charges $30 per square foot for a feng shui consultation in homes or offices and regularly lands contracts worth more than a million RMB ($130,000), says Mr. Feng.

"Our clients are politicians, businessmen, actors, entertainment celebrities," Feng explains. They want to know about the same things as everybody else, though, he says – "marriage, career, health, wealth, and children."

Feng is blatant about the promises he holds out: The only ornament on his wide wooden desk is a golden sculpture of a bejeweled stallion rearing from a pile of golden coins.

And indeed, laments Kevin Li, a thoughtful follower of Bao Tong, if feng shui and related mysteries are becoming more popular in China, it is simply because "more and more people are eager to make money," and expect the fortunetellers to guide them.

Mr. Li, a leather-jacketed, thirty-something advertising man who consults Bao whenever he has a major decision to make, says that his Tao master's guidance "makes my life wiser and more predictable. It makes my heart calmer." But he acknowledges that he is a rare bird.

For the most part, he would reluctantly agree with Professor Zhou, who scoffs at his compatriots' credulity. "Today China lacks a belief, a certain faith," he says. "People believe only in money. If fortune telling is becoming so popular, it's more because they are fond of money than because they are fond of true faith."

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