Ancient feng shui forests to be expanded in bid to soak up China’s … – inews

On a leafy hillside facing the sea, the remote rural settlement of Lai Chi Wo in the north-eastern New Territories of Hong Kong is sheltered by a crescent-shaped cluster of soaring evergreen trees that experts believe could hold the key to Chinas green future.

For the dense groves of broadleaf trees that surround the walled villages white-washed cottages and temples form a fengshuilin, or feng shui forest, that has protected this farming community from the elements ever since it was first settled by the Hakka, descendants of Chinas ancient Han people, around 400 years ago.

This fengshuilin is one of tens of thousands of preserved, pristine woods dotted around Chinas southern and central provinces. The clumps of old-growth trees are regarded by their custodians as sacred and are believed to bring prosperity and health to the communities that have been nurturing them for more than 1,000 years.

Now ecologists believe these species-packed woodlands and the villages they protect could play an important role in Beijings drive to make the country carbon-neutral by 2060. Currently the worlds biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, China is planning to increase its forest coverage to 26 per cent by 2035.

Its ambitions include planting two new forests covering an area the size of Ireland. While fengshuilin are modest in size the lush forest around Lai Chi Wo measures only seven hectares they are rich in biodiversity. The broadleaf evergreens they harbour are renowned for being huge carbon sinks and resistant to pollution.

The feng shui forest behind the village was preserved for the cooling effect in the summer and protection from the monsoon in the winter. It is a kind of natural air conditioner, Dr Billy Hau, a forest ecologist at the University of Hong Kong who has worked with the villagers of Lai Chi Wo, tells i.

Dr Chris Coggins, professor of geography and Asian studies at Bard College at Simons Rock in the US, has been fascinated by feng shui forests since he first encountered a luxuriant patch of large trees on a small mountain above a temple at a village called Guizhuping in the Meihuashan Nature Reserve of south-west Fujian province on a research trip 30 years ago.

He tells i that these community-protected forests have survived as villagers believe they improve local feng shui the ancient Chinese system for determining the most auspicious locations and designs for towns, villages, houses and other buildings based on the flow and quality of life-sustaining energy known as chi.

Dr Coggins adds that each fengshuilin also has a practical purpose, as they help villagers to manage resources, protect against soil erosion and flooding and improve water conservation for crops.

While Dr Coggins says that many Chinese people had been unaware of the forests, as feng shui was viewed as feudal superstition and a forbidden topic during Mao Zedongs regime, now urban planners are looking at these forests as models for modern sustainable city growth, with communities surrounded by biodiverse pockets of greenery better able to withstand the harmful effects of pollution.

A decade ago, a project was launched to encourage urban dwellers to move to Lai Chi Wo to help its few remaining indigenous inhabitants revitalise their village. At the same time, its fengshuilin was used for seed collection to reforest other areas of Hong Kong.

Ecologists taught villagers how to use bio charcoal, created from farm waste, in the soil to protect the carbon sink as they grew crops. In turn, the Hakka villagers shared recipes, craftwork and dialect lessons with the newcomers. At weekends, they now offer guided tours to visitors around the 200 houses, temples and ancestral halls.

It is a remarkable turnaround for what had been a moribund village. Once home to more than 1,000 residents, its population declined sharply in the 60s when local farmers were undercut by produce from mainland China.

Agriculture stopped being a viable way to earn a living, so many residents left, says Tsang Wai Yip, the current head of the village.

The villages pioneering recent work was acknowledged when it received the Special Recognition for Sustainable Development in the Unesco Asia-Pacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation.

And now, elsewhere in rural China, there is official recognition of the role fengshuilin can play.

China wants to move towards a greener economy, says Dr Coggins. And I think theres a broad appreciation of feng shui forests among the people as well as government officials.

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