Israeli feng shui expert Dana Elaviv, poses outside her home in Beijing
© AFP Teh Eng KoonBEIJING (AFP) - As a young real estate agent in her native Israel in the early 1990s, she was asked to find an apartment for a Chinese diplomat, and thought she had dug up exactly what he wanted.
"When we walked in he just kind of briefly stood there and looked ... showing 'this is not for me'," she said. "He just said it had bad feng shui."
Having got a rough idea of bad feng shui, Elarviv decided it was time to find out about good feng shui.
It was the start of an interest which 14 years later has brought her to Beijing, where she is now co-owner of A Matter of Chi, a feng shui consultancy.
Her clients include businesses and residences, and she has even helped with advice for a school building.
Feng shui, which literally means "wind and water," refers to the ancient Chinese art of geomancy put into practice in finding ideal locations for homes and offices, and the best way of arrange the interiors.
"What interests people about feng shui is that they've come to the understanding that they actually have the ability to influence their lives, and feng shui if it's used properly can actually give them an advantage," she said.
And, by implication, a disadvantage if ignored.
Israeli feng shui expert Dana Elaviv
© AFP Teh Eng KoonA recent client of Elarviv's complained that he was feeling restless and that his children were becoming hyperactive.
It turned out that his apartment was located above the entry and exit to a parking lot so it had an excess of qi, or vital energy, believed to flow around in nature.
"The location means there is too much aggressive qi that is flowing underneath his home. It's kind of geographical stress. It can lead to physical stress," said Elarviv.
"One very common problem of too much qi is having a heart attack. There's too much activity going until there is an explosion."
There are a few simple things everyone can do to make sure the feng shui at home is optimal, she said.
"The number one rule is the more light the better. Because light attracts qi, it attracts the vital energy that we need," she said.
"Even if you don't have natural light, just make sure that all the light bulbs in your house work."
When Elarviv came to China, she was hoping to learn more about feng shui from the people who discovered the principles millennia ago. She was disappointed, she said, because the national memory of the ancient practice had been expunged.
Israeli feng shui expert Dana Elaviv
© AFP Teh Eng Koon"When I arrived in Beijing I was surprised to see that you can't really get that much information about feng shui here," she said. "People who do deal with feng shui are kind of hard to find, because it's more word of mouth."
The Cultural Revolution, the period of ultra-radical communism from 1966 to 1976 that aimed to force Chinese people to abandon all vestiges of their past, was largely to blame, she said.
As a result an entire tradition was wiped out, and in its stead has come a more vulgar form of feng shui, she said, with many people conceiving of feng shui as simply a matter of rearranging a few plants or moving the bed to create harmony in the home.
"It's a superstition because people don't take the time to really understand the philosophy that lies behind it. It's a 5,000-year-old philosophy with profound principles, and it takes understanding," she said.
A tradition stretching back five millennia makes it an unenviable task to explain what feng shui boils down to, but the basic principles are straightforward, according to Elarviv.
"First of all, feng shui talks about balance. That's the core. Just creating a sense of balance or harmony in your life already gives you the upper hand," she said.
©AFP