4/19/1999 Monday Taipei, Taiwan – Taipei is the heart of Taiwan. We are visiting the National Palace Museum while here, which holds the worlds largest collection of Chinese artifacts, including ceramics over 5000 years old. There are many Taoist and Confucius temples in the city including the popular Lungshan Temple where the air is always thick with incense burning.
Two blocks away is the famous Snake Alley, which we will be able to walk to tonight from our Hotel Taipei Miramar…our last night in Taiwan. Snake Alley, a fascinating place with a carnival atmosphere.
Snake soup anyone? Taipei comes alive at night, so put your party hat on!
We will take a visit to Mr. Ho’s Feng Shui School and Society and on the last day we will visit some of the famous burial sites and study the principles of the “Yin Zhai” Feng Shui school of thought. Today Site visits with Mr. Ho in the surrounding areas of Taipei… Our last day here in Taiwan we are back in Taipei studying the famous burial sites of the ancient tombs.
While we were in Taiwan studying with Mr. Ho, who speaks no English, our main interpreter was a friend of Rodger Green’s from Australia: Dr. Michael Paton: He was conferred a doctorate by the University of Sydney for his research into the history and philosophy of science in China. Michael is our official translator and is probably one of the most qualified persons for the job in the world as he was the first person to translate important, classical texts into English. The research was based on full translations of five of the Feng Shui Classics of Form School texts. Dr. Paton works in the Faculty of Economics at the University of Sydney. (1999)
5-day seminar with Mr. Ho Chin-Chung in Howard Beach Resort and Taipei, Taiwan – My Class Notes from Mr. Ho: 4/17-19/1999:
-When worshiping and paying respect to ancestors for abundance hold the incense with the right hand then wrap the left hand around while burning.
-Good numbers of Incense to use – 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12
-Numbers Chinese/Taiwanese do not like using – 2, 4, 8, 13, 14
-Over 7,000 years ago the highest God was called:
The limitless Heaven Master or Master of the Unlimited, Heavenly Father “Tianfu”
-The Ancestral Master of the Ba Gua is “Fu Xi” – also where the I Ching comes from.
-Jade Emperor “Yu Huang”
– “Tai Shang” the old Lord, the Ancestor of Taoism, the 1st Taoist, approx. 4,000 years ago
-Jesus, Buddha, and Mohammad, 3,000 years ago
-Feng Shui has been an essential part of Chinese Culture for over 7,000 years
-The Talisman comes from the time of the Yellow Emperor approx. 4,600 years ago
4/20/1999 Tuesday – Depart Taipei for Guilin China – We all pile into the van and head to the airport so we can fly from Taipei, Taiwan back to Hong Kong, since there are not many direct flights to mainland China, and then on to Guilin. Everything is going smoothly up until now. When I go to enter the gate to board from Hong Kong to China, they inform me my visa has been used already and I can’t board the plane with the class?!? I panic, not sure what this means?! My whole tour group is going on without me and I need to stay the night in Hong Kong to get another Visa for China. Somehow, when all the travel was being coordinated for China and all these other countries, we failed to notice that when I went to Beijing in the beginning of the trip it used and finalized my visa…we needed two. One for each time you enter back into China.
Good thing Rodger made a few phone calls and it’s simply going to be a matter of going to see two people and get it complete…AND MY MOM arrives tonight in Hong Kong to have met me in Guilin, but now we can stay together overnight and travel tomorrow.
4/21/1999 Wednesday – Last night Mom met me at the Eaton Hotel after her flight from JFK…we got some sleep and then woke up today…. I need to go and get my visa cleared and then Mom wants to take me to a shop before we head out to Guilin this evening.
I finish up the visa and we head to the shop where you can pick your own fabric and people will take your measurements and sew any garment you would like and it’s not expensive at all compared to what you would pay in NYC. I pick some nice red silk printed fabric for pants and a nice silk black fabric for a traditional Chinese jacket. I can’t wait to use this outfit for my lectures and teachings back home. Mom and I arrive in Guilin together this evening and we settle in with the group. I introduce Mom to my teachers and friends…I missed one day of class with Professor Cheng.
Guilin, China 4/21-25/1999 5 Days with Professor Cheng.
“Guilin is located on the spectacular Li River. The surrounding landscape is beautiful, and the shape of the hills are very unique to the area. Take a walk to the Seven Star Park, dozens of caves and seven great peaks arranged in the shape of the Great Bear (Big Dipper) constellation. The Li River cruise is a one-day journey of 85 km between Guilin and Yangshuo through the finest scenery which for most people is the highlight of their trip to China. We will pass scores of grotesquely shaped hills with exotic names. Along the way notice the cormorant fishermen on bamboo rafts, they train these birds to dive for the fish, an age-old practice in Southern China. Guilin’s restaurants are of good quality and there are plenty of theatres offering traditional opera and ballad singing.” – From the study tour brochure.
Professor Cheng: An expert on the Lo Pan Compass. In the beautiful setting of Guilin on the River Li, we will be studying for 4 days the application of the Lo Pan Compass. On the last day we go on a 6-hour trip down the spectacular River Li. It is considered in China that there are only 4 experts on the Lo Pan and Professor Cheng is one of them!
Professor Cheng Class notes 4/21-25/1999–Textbook “Chinese Feng Shui Compass-Step by Step”
-Direction is more important to landscape in compass school.
-First thing look at facing direction and compare with landscape.
-24 Heaven Star Ring – Master Lei from Sung Dynasty set up this ring.
-24 Mountain is divided by Yin and Yang
-Lo Shu Squares with number’s 1-9
-9 Star Water Method – uses the I Ching symbols and numbers and builds off 24 Mountain
-Lunar calendar used in Chinese Astrology and Feng Shui is 11 days difference from the western calendar
-Lunar goes clockwise and Solar goes counter-clockwise on the Lo Pan
-Feng Shui Pagoda has 6 sides to equal water, which stands for intelligence
-Chinese Sizes come from music scales and sounds and tones. Called the Huang (Golden) Zhong (Bell) Lu (Order)
4/23/1999 Friday 4:45pm – Gee haven’t written in my journal in a day because it’s harder to juggle with my class notes, Mom being here, and now having made friends with some great people…. BTW Michele left in Taiwan deciding the study tour was not for her and I ended up with my own room until Tibet.
We’re going hiking up the mountains this evening. We’re now in Guilin and Mom’s joined the group…. she always wanted to see Tibet. WOW what a trip. It’s just so cool to be in the Far East studying something I’m so passionate about. I’m just filled with inspiration. Classes have been good here and we’ve been studying Lo Pan for 3 days with Prof. Cheng. I came back to the room early to sleep but was only able to rest and meditate. I knew someone special was going to be in Tibet with me and it’s my MOM. One day at a time that’s my goal in life right now. Also, to appreciate how great life is. This is one of the most wonderful experiences of my life and its halfway over already BUT half more to go!
What more can I say. I’m in a great Country; learning and seeing great things…life is good. I love life. I’ve been so lucky in life my higher power always takes care of me. No matter what, my universe knows what is best for me…I let my spirit guide me. As long as I’m doing that, I’m confident I’m right where I should be. I like Guilin a lot but haven’t been able to see much of it yet with classes…Tonight should be fun, a picnic at the top of a mountain, then onto a Chinese Herb/Medicine clinic for a quick lesson.
Tomorrow, I believe, is the river ride down the Li River and then a banquet Saturday night. We leave for an over night in Cheng Du China and then off to Tibet. I love everyone on this trip…each person has something to offer. I love the teacher here in Guilin he’s great and I love our guide for Tibet, he has joined us already, he’s got such great energy presence around him. Well until later….
4/24/1999 Saturday – This is where my travel journal gets fuzzy on the details because Guilin and our hotel ended up flooding after much rain the last few days, the Li River over flowed. We were able to get our river ride in, but the Chinese National guard had to evacuate us from the hotel earlier than expected as the water was up to our ankles in the lobby. We ended up getting, by special order, the last plane out of there to Cheng Du. It’s so flooded and the rain is so bad we couldn’t see that town at all. We leave for Lhasa tomorrow on a 6:20am flight…arrive in Lhasa at lunch time and get a tour of Lhasa after lunch. So, it was basically a night in a hotel in Cheng Du.
Follow me for my Next Stop in Tibet … ☯️
