Shanghai

Geomancy is a unique Chinese art of tying destiny with the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire and earth. A restaurant brings it a step closer to life. Shi Yingying reports.

What if you broke your arm, got dumped by your girlfriend and lost your job all in the same day? You would definitely want to know what went wrong, and perhaps do something to change your luck.

While Westerners may head to church and look for the answers, some Chinese, especially those in Shanghai, are going straight to a restaurant which uses feng shui or geomancy to attract a unique clientele.

This is how it works. You call the Maishengli Restaurant, leave your name, gender, age, date of birth and a short description of your problem. Next you pay 3,888 yuan per person and then wait for the feng shui master to prescribe the menu and tell you when to come for dinner.

That's right. You pay a few thousand dollars upfront and then wait to be told when to come. You won't even know what you'll be eating.

But it's worth the price, according to Chinese feng shui master Tao Jianguo, the consultant for Maishengli Restaurant, who says this is the most exclusive dining deal in town. On top of the custom meal, you will also get a personal consultation with the master himself on how feng shui can solve all your problems.

"Feng shui is not only the ancient Chinese practice of arranging objects and numbers to promote health, harmony and prosperity, but also a study of the environment," he says. "It's all about the balance between the diner, the food and the surroundings.

Maishengli is not a new restaurant, says general manager Dennis Zhang. What is new is the Five Elements Feng Shui Dining Hall, which was converted from a private dining room and redesigned using the principles of feng shui.

There is now a circular suspended ceiling with hand painted dragon and phoenix in the middle of the raised room. Life-force trinkets are strategically placed here and there to keep the decor in proper alignment.

The whole creates a very comfortable ambiance and the perfect setting for dining. As for the food, the master applies feng shui logic according to its proven theories.

"Everyone is born without one or two elements depending on his or her date of birth," Tao explains. "If you lack fire, for example, the menu I design will feature lots of spicy food. If you are short of the wood element, then the vegetable set is ideal."

The right time to dine also depends on what your body needs.

"It's a little like taking calcium supplements," says Tao. "For some, they may just need to bask in the sun for several hours and they will be fine. For others, they may down many supplement tablets, but their body just will not absorb the calcium."

Even the crockery at the Five Elements Feng Shui Dining Hall is designed according to the principles of metal, wood, water, fire and earth, with representative Chinese characters emblazoned in the middle of the plates.

Geomancy is being used more and more in the hospitality and entertainment industries.

Disneyland in Hong Kong redesigned some parts of its theme park after consulting a feng shui master. And McDonald's has also used feng shui for the positioning of some of its outlets in Asia and elsewhere.