Fortune tellers

Ever wondered what's in store for the future? Time Out tracks down the city's fortune tellers (surely they were expecting us?) and finds out more...

'Fortune-telling is a native Chinese form of psychology,' explains Xu Kun, secretary of the Beijing Yi Ching Research Centre. 'However Chinese fortune-telling takes a lot more into account than Western psychology does'.

Yi Ching, the Book of Changes is China's oldest classic text and from it originates most of the Chinese ideas about cosmology and philosophy. Xu Kun explains that Yi Ching is still very intertwined within Chinese folk custom and present in people's everyday lives. 'You find Yi Ching within the theory of Chinese medicine, within forms of health promotion such as taiqi and wushu. It is also present within Chinese management and business culture, not just in the internal leadership structure but also the environment and the fengshui of the office'.

Yi Ching also gave birth to Chinese fortune-telling, which has since spread to many other countries and cultures. 'Chinese people often go to have their fortune told when they're not feeling good about something,' explains Xu Kun. 'They wont wait until a problem's got so big that it's engulfed them, but will go and inquire about it when they notice its starting to make them feel confused, unhappy or stressed. Hearing about their future helps to alleviate these troubled feelings.'

Cuicheng Zuoyi, who runs company Yizuo Qiming has been practicing fortune-telling for over 30 years. He helps a lot of people with big life decisions, be it assessing their compatibility with a potential spouse, pin-pointing an auspicious day for a wedding or choosing a lucky name for a son or daughter. If you don't have a specific question, you could instead choose to have your future mapped. Cuicheng Zuoyi charges 500RMB for this service, for which he provides a rundown as to what the client should expect each year for the next four years, what they need to watch out for, what they should do and what they should avoid doing. For 200RMB he will simplify this to one particular area of life, either marriage, work, health or finance.

This kind of information is found using the bazi method of fortune-telling. Fortune-tellers use books full of seemingly incomprehensible symbols and charts to convert personal information into eight figures, or bazi. Referring to more squiggles, fortune-tellers use these eight keys to unlock doors of knowledge and extract information about your future. Cuicheng Zuoyi always makes sure a client is feeling calm before he begins to make a reading, asking them if they are willing to hear information, be it good or bad. 'Life's full of ups and downs,' he explains, 'But having some information about what lies ahead can help us to prepare ourselves.'

For more information...

Beijing zhouyi research centreSixth Floor Capital Economics and Trade University Library, 12 Huaxiangzhangjia Lukou, Fengtai district (tel 8395 1650 or 133 0112 32650). Email jhm@vip.163.com for more information. 北京周易研究会丰台区花乡张家路首都经济贸易大学图书馆六层
Personal bazi readings cost between 3,000-5,000RMB. They also hold courses in fengshui and fortune telling and give talks about Yi Ching.

Fortune telling and fengshui Centre 17 Huixin Beili, Chaoyang district (tel 6489 0457). By appointment. 朝阳区惠新北里17号
The Forune Telling and Fengshui Centre provide readings 600-5,000RMB. Xiao Hongzhu studies Yin and Yang and is well known for his predictions and his belief in Buddhism.

Yizuo Qiming 23 Jianzixiang, Zhangzizhong Lu, Dongcheng district (tel 8401 8150). Open 9am-5pm. 东城区张自忠路中剪子巷23号
Fortunetelling costs between 200-500RMB.

If you wish to consult a Chinese fortune-teller, you'll need to supply personal details such as your name, age, as well as your lunar date and time of birth. Be aware that although very intuitive, Beijing's fortune-tellers are unlikely to speak much English; if Mandarin's not your mother tongue, consider taking a native speaking friend to interpret for you.

Poppy Toland