The bald-headed feng shui master examined my palms, studied my face, noted my time of birth, stared into my eyes and then slowly shuffled back behind his table in the quiet little Lijiang restaurant. He sipped his tea, leaned across the table and asked: "Do you trust me?"

The master had returned from an important project in Shangri-la. The world-famous city's world-famous giant statue of Buddha had not received a feng shui checkup in 200 years and the local government had hired the master to look at the spatial arrangement around the statue. After two centuries, the flow of energy (qi) around Buddha needed a little unclogging. After fixing Buddha, the master now had his sights set on me.

I was living in very interesting times indeed.

I met my feng shui master in Lijiang, an enchanting, 700-year-old city with streets paved in cobblestone and snow-capped mountains looming over traditional Chinese tiled roof-tops. Many argued it was Shangri-La, mentioned in James Hamilton's 1933 novel, The Lost Horizons. Hamilton described a mountain-top paradise where people lived in harmony, reveling in learning and profound inner peace. In 2002, Zhongdian, in northwestern Yunnan Province and three hours drive from Lijiang, was officially declared to be Shangri-La.

The feng shui master had been telling me about his craft and I asked him if he could do to me what he did to Buddha in Shangri-la. I couldn't resist.

"Do you trust me?" he asked again with a very serene smile. "It won't work if you don't trust me."

I felt like he was using a sales line, and I was a bit reluctant to say I trusted someone I had only known for about 15 minutes. But this gentle soul was not asking for money. He was just being friendly and sharing his knowledge. It's the sort of thing that happens to foreigners all across China every day. For me it was interesting China experience No. 769. These moments are the reason I came. So I said the magic words: "I trust you."

He laughed, pushed away his tea and ordered a beer. I later discovered he loved a quiet beer ... or eight.

The 50-something master said I looked stressed, and should learn to love myself more. He said my face was balanced and there was no need to be so ambitious.

Good things would come my way when I was ready for them.

To be ready for them, I needed to live more in the moment. He said life was about balance. When good things come, enjoy them, embrace them and get excited for one minute, no more. Then go back to a peaceful, neutral zone. When bad stuff happens, feel it, wail, but only for one minute, no more.

Then return to the balanced core. Return to the moment.

It was all good and soon I said goodbye. I wanted to give the feng shui master something in return but what do you give someone who wants nothing, and knows the meaning of everything?

What do you give a man who just fixed the Buddha of Shangri-la's qi?

I bought him another beer.

(China Daily 08/29/2007 page20)