The fengshui secrets of an ageless town

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By CGTN's He Yingjie, Min-Zhui Lee

Encircled by undulant hills and the middle reaches of the Jialing River, an ancient settlement throbs softly with life, its web of cobbled alleyways have seemingly been unchanged for the past 2,300 years.

Some say the old town of Langzhong, in northeastern Sichuan Province, possesses the best fengshui in the world. Almost everything fits the fengshui formula, from the layout of its lanes and positioning of watchtowers, to the widths of door frames and direction of desks.

It’s a quaint, captivating place for tourists, whether a fengshui rookie or professional. Vehicles are banned, but regardless, the best way to explore the labyrinthine Langzhong is by foot.

A Family Residence in Langzhong

Its passageways are peppered with fengshui shops that appear to be hoarders’ haphazard collections of knickknacks. But they’re all fengshui related with compasses, bracelets, and wall-hangings, which make a wonderland for eager believers who can purchase a lifelong supply of items meant to bring luck, wealth and opportunity into the home.

Visitors can meet fengshui masters who will provide basic fengshui guidelines or complex directives for a fee. They can wander into old family residences, which have been turned into guesthouses or museums that exhibit dusty, vast compendiums of fengshui implements.

If you're fortunate enough, a Taoist teacher can walk the fengshui-curious traveler through the famous Qing dynasty “Shuimatou” Inn, boasting 2,800 square meters of well-applied fengshui laws which dictate even the placement of a plant.

Tiangongyuan Temple

There’s the Tiangongyuan Temple where the “Nostradamuses of China” are buried. Two astronomers who wrote a book of prophesies are supposed to have mostly come true are present. Behind their shrine, the brave can divine their fortunes based on their weight of their bones at birth.

But fengshui is much more than simple geomancy or soothsaying – it is a manual for living well, a traditional Chinese system of harmonising the person with their surroundings, based on the idea that habitat impacts life.

Zhongtianlou Tower

It’s perhaps this perfect balance of everything within Langzhong, plus its location amidst moss-colored mountains and a twinkling waterway, that, to this day, such a place still exists.

1380km