Today, feng shui is no longer dismissed as Oriental hocus pocus but is considered to be a science with a lot of potential. In Hong Kong, executives at Chase Asia, Paine Webber, Morgan Bank and the Asia Wall Street Journal hired feng shui experts to advise them on the construction and decoration of their offices. The directors of a big banking house while building their $5 billion headquarters, acquired two small blocks of prime real estate between the bank’s site and the harbour and handed it over to the local government for parks and gardens. A kind gesture but the compelling factor was feng shui. The bankers did not want any other building to obstruct the flow of ch’i (translated as life force energy) from the water front to their office! Indeed, feng shui has come to be considered a force to reckon with. Auyin Hill Resort on the outskirts of Malacca (Malay Peninsula’s west coast) is believed to be the only one of its kind in the world.

Lau Soon Hing, the Managing Director of the resort, recounts his long search for a small weekend retreat for his family and friends, far from hectic Kuala Lumpur, where he runs a business in Chinese medicine. When he stumbled onto the 22-acre rubber plantation outside Malacca, Lau knew he had found what he had been looking for. Assisted by friends, he gradually developed it into his own theme park. Together, they cleared the rubber plantation, replacing it with shrubs, flowering plants, fruit trees and ornamental rocks in shapes and sizes prescribed by feng shui. The aim of a feng shui garden is to evoke the uncluttered balance of nature; here quality takes precedence over quantity. Lau points out, "The garden should bring out the beauty of local flora rather than go for display of incongruous exotica".

Today Auyin has more than a dozen gardens; walls and screening trees have been aesthetically used to obscure unwanted scenery and highlight favourable views. The other delights of the feng shui garden are pathways and pavilions, bridges over beautiful oriental pools

and partitioning walls with interestingly shaped windows, reminiscent of Chinese history and mythology. Colours are important in feng shui practice, though secondary to structure and location. Each element is represented by a specific colour; Water by black, wood by blue green, fire by red, earth by yellow, and metal by white or silver grey. The colours employed in Auyin assiduously follow these principles. One enters the Auyin Hill Resort through a welcome Gate (kai Zi Men) brushed in red with inscriptions in yellow. Few visitors can remain immune to the charm of the 18-metre high entrance gate (Dong Hai Tai Zi Men) built in the shape of the Chinese character for ‘door’ with engravings that translates to sincerity, dedication, affinity, charity and wisdom. Pass through a traditional wind chime and you are greeted by a smiling Buddha (Xiano Fo). The piquant rocks at the entrance (Feng Diao Yu Shun, Guo Tai Min An) are reminders that Auyin is a place for deeper thought and exploration of the mind. The cool, quiet ambience calms big-city nerves and puts one in a reflective mood.

Your route through the Auyin Hill Resort will pass through a number of gateways, along pathways, pavilions and over bridges built in the manner recommended by feng shui, to allow for tranquility of mind and spirit. Coloured rocks, engraved with Chinese characters, convey messages of peace or issue warnings. The Green Stone (Qing Shi Dao), for instance, cautions, "think twice and be cautious in everything you do, even when you enter a clean, well kept area like this." Close to the Green Stone are the three gods of fortune, fame and longevity (Fu Lu Shou) watching your progress. Confidence and success in life comes from the Rainbow Bridge (Cai Hong Qiao) where sculptured horses can be seen yearning for the rainbow in its pristine perfection. Prosperity Mountain (Foo Kwai San), enclosed by a dragon wall, has nine orange pillars running up to its ridge to "hold up the heavens". Adjacent to the walls is the Destiny Stone (Yuan Shi) which suggests that a solid foundation of understanding and tolerance is needed for relationships to withstand the challenges that come with time. Such musings seem to hold the attention of several jet-age visitors who are often seen to be pondering over them.

The Peach Blossom Gate (Tao Hua Men) is the gateway of fortune through which, says mythology, walked the three legendary men – circumstances later brought them together as brothers. The image of the Three Sworn Brothers (San Jie Yi) recreates a bit of ancient China when war raged across the land and the ‘brothers’ had to undergo tremendous trials and tribulations. Visitors love to pass by the apricot coloured door shaped like an ancient Chinese coin. The gate is low and one has to stoop to pass through. For the money-minded, there’s a warning here: "There are two things that money can’t buy: Friendship and life". Newlyweds come to have their pictures taken in front of clouds of colourful bougainvillaea and oleander blossoms, or to pledge undying love in front of the Lover’s Rock (Ying Yang Sek). Lover’s Bridge (Qing Ren Qiao) is the right place to make wishes and tos coins into the stream to ensure that they come true.

The ancient bonsai collection (Qian Nian Shui Mei) at the Heavenly Orchid Yard (Hu Ji Xian Jing) is another example of Chinese art; the most favoured tree here is the Water Plum, known to be several hundred years old! The Dragon Gate (Deng Long Men) unfolds to the Wisteria garden. The spread of roses in different colours and varieties at the Rose Garden (Mei Gui Yuan) has to be seen to be believed. The Tenth Mile Pavilion (Shi li Ting) is another throwback to ancient Chinese Imperial history when scholars traveled for months to appear for examinations at the Emperor’s court. At every tenth mile, the Emperor had erected a pavilion to allow travellers to rest awhile.

The private resort of Mister Lau went public in 1990 when the country was celebrating the Visit Malaysia Year. Part of the agreement in going public was that Auyin would begin charging admission fees. Today, a staff of over 400 ensure that the resort remains clean and the visitors are well attended to.

The Li Hong souvenir center is the place where tourists can pick up interesting curios; the nearby Dragon Phoenix Café serves specialities like the General’s Egg and Emperor’s soup – the eats taste as exotic as they sound. Worth a try for the adventurous gourmet. In the future, Lau intends to build a five star hotel, with a class restaurant, boutiques and refreshment stalls in the resort. All intended to tap the feng shui potential to the maximum, of course.

Practical Feng Shui

The ancient Chinese art says that the location, layout and furnishing of where we live have a dramatic effect on our health, wealth and happiness. Some simple guidelines:

If your bed is next to the door, create a screen with furniture and plants. Hang windchimes or bells in narrow halls and corridors. Sound attracts and diffuses energy.

Greenery outside the front door will make your home more welcoming and increase energy flow. Avoid dry flowers as they are deemed unlucky. Trees too close to the house too are not a good idea.

Coins wrapped in red paper and placed under a plant are said to bring prosperity.

For your aquarium, choose an odd number of fish. (Goldfish should be your first choice.)

Mirrors have been called the "aspirin" of feng shui. Always keep them clean and replace the damaged one. They reflect energy into dull areas.

Keep your home’s entrance well lit.

Chinese Luck

The Chinese look upon moods and luck as something that can be controlled. The ancient Chinese actually dissected luck into: Heavenly

Luck-the luck you were born with.

Man

Luck-the luck we make ourselves.

Earth

Luck-the luck we can engineer by skillfully applying the principles of feng shui.

The resort is located a short distance from the town of Malacca. Visitors from Kuala Lumpur can turn right to Durian Tunggal after the Air Keroh Toll Booth. The Resort is open between 8 am and 8 pm. Entrance fee is RM6 for adults and RM3 for children.

Shahid Akhter Shahid is a freelance writer based in New Delhi and his forte is history. Besides travel writing and photography he enjoys working on ORIGINS. If you are a serious traveler he will gladly talk to you about the places he knows about.