Australasia > Australia > Victoria > Melbourne > Articles > Feung Shui in Melbourne¡¦s Chinatown

Chinatown, Melbourne: A small group of strangers has met is eventually met by our smiling host Jodi Brunner. With waist length flowing hair and green Chinese silk blouse, Jodi looks like an enthusiastic backpacker just back from a trek across the orient. But Jodi is no western novice, but a recognized Master in the art of Feng Shui. Described as part science, part mathematics and part intuition, this practice that pre-dates recorded history explores the aspects of time and space that create (or disturb) the balance and harmony in our lives.<> We have joined Jodi on the streets of Chinatown, not to learn in depth the philosophies and concepts of Feng Shui, but enjoy an entertaining and novel introduction by exploring these unfamiliar streets with ¡§Feng Shui¡¨ eyes for a few hours.<> Jodi starts her tours in Chinatown¡¦s square as it provides the perfect visual aid to introduce the basic foundation of Feng Shui. The 4 animal concept provides us with the red phoenix, representing the open, the ¡§Yang¡¨; the black tortoise, the closed protective Yin¡¨, the dragon and the tiger. In the square the open entranceway of the 3-tiered red archway provides the opportunity for the positive Chi energy to flow into the space. The black tortoise at the back of the square represents the required protection at the rear. A philosophy even we westerners adhere to, with women offered the seat in a restaurant against the wall but facing the doorway! The proverbial ¡§date seat¡¨ affords black tortoise protection as well as openness to positive chi!<> The bordering animals of dragon, Yang on the left, the higher side and Tiger on the right, the lower side not only represent the classic masculine and feminine, but align with the idea that the energy of chi flows from top to bottom thus needs a high point to enter and a projective barrier to capture at the low point.<> The dragon is also a metaphor for the topography of the land and where the positive locations are to build a home and to live. The head and tail, the volatile ends are consider unsafe, while the secure protective belly is recommended as the ideal location. Jodi encourages her group to think of this concept in terms of our own Dandenong Ranges, looking for the belly of the dragon with the openness to the valley in the front and the protection of the mountains at the rear as a good location in Feng Shui terms for a home.<> Before leaving the square we look to the guarding dragons at the entrance. In pairs of a male and female, placed to the right and left respectively.<> With this basic knowledge of Feng Shui we head off to explore various aspects of Chinatown. We soon discover that doorways to restaurants and hotels are aligned at opportune angles to capture the flowing chi down the street, entranceways are wide and unobstructed to create positive open spaces and pairs of male and female dragons guard protectively at many doorways. However there is also the negative aspects of Feng Shui to address. The ¡§poison arrow¡¨ of the angular point of an opposite building or the ¡§heaven chopping shaft¡¨ of a darkened alleyway facing a businesses doorway require counteractive measures. An octagonal shaped mirror can be seen placed offered these aspects to deflect the negative energies.<> As we traverse from example of positive Feng Shui to negative, we become accustomed to the reading the signs. Collective knowing ¡§ahs¡¨ and shocked ¡§ohs¡¨ ring from the group as we start to see Chinatown with Feng Shui eyes.<> Our next to last stop is the gifted gardens from our sister city in Tianjin. In Spring Street, a stones throw from Parliament house, we see all the elements of positive Feng Shui brought together in one environment. Flowing water representing active, flowing chi, tall straight bamboo plants representing the strength of the human spirit and protective dragons guarding over the open entranceway. However this peaceful setting is not without controversy, with the dragons spirit brought to life with the subterfuge painting of their eyes open not long after the park was open in the 1990¡¦s, Feng Shui masters predicted this as a negative for the neighboring state government ¡V even with the painted eyes removed, we can all admit it wasn¡¦t a great time for the government of the day!<> We end our tour at the Dragon Boat Palace, the welcoming restaurant of a current and most popular politician! Before we sit to enjoy a multiple course lunch of Yum Cha, a final lesson in the influence of time in Feng Shui. With the change of time comes a change in the linear direction that is most positive to capture the positive chi. Jodi points out to structural changes to doorways, entrances, even the fish tank! to create an environment to make the most of the earth luck that Feng Shui is said to bestow.<>

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