Hang Zhou, China, April 11th 2007 A 6 a.m. wake-up call, and we’re out of the hotel an hour later.  The real Excursion begins today – yesterday’s trip to Ling Yin Temple was a bonus, warm-up treat Joey planned for us! Our first stop for the day: Fa Sing Temple in Hang Zhou.  Reputedly founded by the Indian monk, Huili, who’s also credited as the founder of Ling Yin Temple, Fa Sing’s history predates 1,600 years!  Joey emphasized that in the yesteryears, many of the formulas were applied for major building constructions…temples were one of those that somehow survived the Cultural Revolution.  So we weren’t visiting temples for spiritual purposes, but in Fa
Sing’s case, to find out how the monks and residents of nearby villages tend to live long, hale and healthy lives.  Well, Fa Sing was small, with no release of veins.  Still, there was the presence of positive stars (mountains) called `Ji Sha’.  Joey explained to us that this structure taps into the Nan Ji Star that governs longevity!  This star can be found in the Ru Di Yan’s `Tian Xing Xing Long’ chapter.  No wonder this Temple lies way off main roads – no Wealth Mountain formations…hence, no commercial luck.  Only locals (and Feng Shui diehards like us!) visit this place.

We did visit another temple – Fa Xi Temple.  This one was larger and attracted visitors from all over China.  If anything good that came out of this visit, it was having our bad habit of trying to `fit’ formulas (like Water Dragons, 5 Ghosts Carry Treasure) to suit the building’s design pointed out and corrected by Joey! 

Our next Hang Zhou stop was a Tea House – and what made it special was this Tea House wasn’t endorsed by the Chinese Government…the Real McCoy!  While being served tea, we went about our audit of the place, and soon discovered why generations have prospered operating that Tea House.  The Mu Qu Star locks the place’s Water Mouth, and the nearby Heavenly Storage Door can be easily appended by a simply alteration.  The result: Good Feng Shui, and an owner so happy, he gave Joey a free packet of his most expensive tea! (Don’t some people get all the luck?)

Then it was off to Long Men Village…hometown of Sun Kun, the guy who built the most technologically advanced ship (even by today’s standards) for the famed Admiral Cheng He.  Sun Kun was, in fact, the King of the State of Wu during China’s Three Kingdoms Period (circa 220-265 AD).  Founded by his descendents, Long Men was obviously an ancient village (the Sun Clan lived here for more than 2,000 years!).

Having being briefed on the Village’s history, we set about with our Luo Pans and Xuan Kong, Ba Zhai, Water Dragons and San He et al formulas trying to figure out the mountains and forms within the place (admittedly, with quite a bit of head-scratching along the way)…before Joey decided time’s up – and gathered us around him for the ensuing discussion.  Asked if the Feng Shui of the place was good, no prizes for guessing most – if not all – of us responded to the affirmative; to which Joey contradicted at once!  It seemed that this Village is NOT located within the `meridian vicinity’, and does not have any Luo Cheng formation or interlocking Water Mouth Stars to boot.  Darn…we had made the glaring mistake of trying to fit pre-conceived notions and formulas ala `reverse engineering’ once again!  But the presence of the Literary Star Formation accounts for the production of brilliant scholars from this Village; in this case, the Wen Qu Scholarly Star (a real mountain) was within the correct dimensional measurement.

We then marched onto Sun Kun’s house, to see how its Feng Shui supported his endeavors and made him the man he was.  It was there that we learnt that the Nobleman Mountain Star, which along with the Literary Arts Star at this property’s exterior, contributed to his success in life.  And for the record, Flying Stars couldn’t be applied to Sun Kun’s house during his lifetime, simply because this concept wasn’t even invented then!

Next on our itinerary was a visit to the home of the richest person in this Village!  It seemed that he donated most of his possessions once to save the Village in the aftermath of a great inferno.  Good deeds aside, why, of all houses, does this one produce the wealthiest family?  We soon discovered that the unique Earth Storage Star (a special kind of Ju Men Wealth Star) could be found at the specific location, hence contributing to this family’s wealth.  In any case, one of the bewildered participants asked: “Then why did he lose all his wealth by giving it away?”  To which Joey responded: “Notice the cutting river right at the back of this property?  Well, that separates the mountains Qi!”  A lesson well learnt indeed, as this audit demonstrated the true power of Luan Tou Feng Shui, where formulas should not be applied blindly.

In demonstrating the strength of Xuan Kong Da Gua, Joey had us visit another wealthy merchant’s home.  There, we saw the precepts penned by Grandmaster Jiang Da Hong in his classic, Di Li Bian Zheng (Earth Study Discern Truth) come to life.  We soon realized that Xuan Kong Da Gua was not only about applying `water formations’ to a place but also more importantly, linking landforms, residences and residents together. 

Rumbling tummies proclaimed lunchtime – and at a most unique place too…the Long Men Ge Restaurant.  A village restaurant nestled in the hills.  Hellooo…would anyone (reasonably sane, that is) frequent such an eatery…what with the inconvenience of having to physically exercise first?  But this Restaurant’s business has been doing great for so many years, with travelers coming from afar to savor its delicacies.  Aha!  Yet another Feng Shui audit over lunch, which we gladly did.

After lunch, Joey asked if we were game for a walk.  “YES!” came our resounding reply.  He had Land Selection on his mind, and we took a good 30-minute walk up the hills that border the Restaurant’s rear.  Our mission: To seek the vein and meridian spot of a fresh piece of land where no buildings have been built yet.  Easier said than done…that spot was probably a few hundred acres large!  As we rummaged in our minds’ recesses for starting options, Joey prompted us by telling us to look for the release of veins.  As we tracked further into the hills, we sure enough located the `Xue’ of the entire area and with it, the relevant Dragon Formation and Meridian Spot.  For many amongst our entourage, this was the first time they had experienced `Dragon Spotting’ after practicing Feng Shui for so many years!

We then journeyed to Jin Hua, arriving here just in time for dinner 3 ½ hours later.  Day 2 log of the 2007 Excursion ends here.