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Europeans and Chinese have commented that, on entering, one senses a feeling of tranquillity.
One Chinese lady was keen to live in Realty Gardens. She paid her deposit in 1972, shortly before the flats were completed, and she was allocated a flat in another block. On learning the fung shui in the second block was not so good as the flat examined in this case study she promptly withdrew her application. Even though she could ill afford it she relinquished her deposit,
In today's world much is happening at a rapid pace. Yet the powers of the natural environment are still important. Psychologists, sociologists and environmentalists warn of the dangers of alienation of people from nature. The Eight Chinese Elements of Nature are: fire, thunder, heaven, water (the ocean), water (rain), wind, earth and the hills. A valley with favourable fung shui is considered good for farming. A village should preferably be situated at the foot of a hill so that the vitality of fung shui flows down. Also, paths leading to or from a hamlet should meander or zig-zag so that evil spirits, which travel in straight lines, cannot follow people walking along them.
Most Chinese feel they are part of nature, and, everywhere they turn, they try to imagine things are alive. Consequently, most do not move into a flat blind to fung shui principles. It is important to 'examine the earth and taste the water'. One of the 'tests' is to take a babe-in-arms into a house and see how it reacts to its surroundings. Does it cry or does it lie peaceably?
Until the late 1960s, the gracious old Foreign Correspondents' Club stood on the site where the housing complex, Realty Gardens, now stands. Many of the old features in its communal garden, such as steps, retaining walls, rainwater catchment channels and pavilions with green, sweeping, glazed tile roofs, are still there.
Just as alongside a path on the edge of a village an earth god shrine is usually positioned, so, as you enter the flat in this case study you are faced by a figurine of Chung Kuei, the eighth-century physician. Wearing a maroon and white robe he stands, smiling, on a ledge by the front door. In his hand is a fan on which a bat perches. Chung is a protector against evil and an expert at catching ghosts. He may be likened to a guardian