Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 39, No. 2, pp. 975–996, 20120160-7383/$ - see front matter � 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Printed in Great Britain

doi:10.1016/j.annals.2011.11.015www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures

TOURISM REPRESENTATIONS OFCHINESE COSMOLOGY: THE CASE OF

FENG SHUI TOURISM

Christine BuzindeYoungjoon Choi

The Pennsylvania State University, USAAlex Yasong Wang

Indiana University of Pennsylvania, USA

Abstract: This paper contributes to the ongoing dialogue on social spatialization by examininghow the divinatory practice and philosophy of feng shui is articulated within tourism discourses;specifically, within brochures promoting feng shui tours for Western tourists. Utilizing contentanalysis, the findings indicate that feng shui tourism landscapes are depicted as exoteric spacesof consumption through which tourists are existentially transformed. Furthermore, feng shui toursare framed as pedagogic experiences in which the roles of the tourist and the guide are redefinedas student and international pedagogue, respectively, to counteract perceptions of feng shui asirrational and/or superstitious. Such findings demonstrate ways in which this contesteddivinatory practice of the periphery is edged to the center vis-a-vis tourism discourses.Keywords: feng shui landscapes, spatialization, spatial embodiment, China, tourism representa-tions, indigenous cosmologies. � 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

INTRODUCTION

This paper interrogates the discursive strategies entailed in articulat-ing the divinatory practice and philosophy of feng shui within feng shuitourism brochures. Over the last decade, feng shui, an ancient Chinesedivinatory practice, has become one of the most popular aspects of thenew age movement worldwide (Binkley, 2008) and a relatively newniche market, within the tourism industry in China, catering to foreigntourists. There has been a surge in private travel companies and Desti-nation Marketing Organizations (DMOs) that promote feng shui toursand this has resulted in the proliferation of travel brochures that aim tolure Western tourists to partake in feng shui tourism in China; a nationwherein this divinatory practice is claimed to have originated. For in-stance, the official website for the Hong Kong Tourism Board actively

Christine Buzinde is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Recreation, Park andTourism Management at Penn State University (University Park, PA 16802, USA. Email<cbuzinde@psu.edu>). Her research interests focus on the politics of tourism representationsand endogenous tourism development. Youngjoon Choi is a Ph.D. student at the sameinstitution. Alex Yasong Wang is an Assistant Professor at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

975

976 C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996

advertises the availability of feng shui tours and in fact a simple internetsearch yields a multitude of private establishments offering similartours.

Feng shui tourism entails partaking in guided tours of landscapes thatare interpreted through feng shui symbolisms. Although most of theseguided tours take place in China, a few are also carried out within Wes-tern metropolitan areas, such as Los Angeles, USA or Sidney, Australia,wherein the focus is on the touring of urban Chinatowns. Feng shui isdescribed as ‘‘a mystical combination of Chinese philosophical, reli-gious, astrological, cosmological, mathematical, and geographical con-cepts’’ (Lai, 1974, p. 506). It has been actively practiced in China forover 3000 years however similar geomancy practices are also found inother East Asian nations; for instance, it is referred to as Pungsu inKorea and Fusui in Japan (Han, 2001; Yoon, 2006). Unlike Westerngeomancy which is based on astrological prognostication that focuseson choosing the most ‘‘propitious or inauspicious times calculatedfrom the moon’s position in its synodic. . .cycles and its aspects withthe planets,’’ the East Asian practice is based on geophysical locations(Braswell-Means, 1990, p. 138).

One of its fundamental principles is the belief in the ‘‘existence of aconstant energetic flow between humans and their environment that isresponsible for an individual’s psycho-physical wellness’’ (Bonaiuto,Bilotta, & Stolfa, 2010, p. 24). It is the ‘‘art of adapting the residencesof the living and the dead so as to co-operate and harmonize with thelocal currents of the cosmic breath’’ (Tuan, 1970, p. 245). Feng Shuiadherents draw on this divinatory practice to identify ‘‘a good locationfor human settlement, the right time for its construction and the prop-er space arrangement for channeling the positive flow of Qi [or chi]’’which is regarded as the life energy/vital energy inherent in all sen-tient and non- sentient forms (Xiaodong, 2002, p. 89; also see Chen,2007; Emmons, 1992). The term feng means wind and it ‘‘representsintangible and spiritual aspects of an environment’’ whereas the wordshui means water and it ‘‘represents tangible and physical elements’’(Xiaodong, 2002, p. 89).

Generally, feng shui informs ways in which space is rendered intelligi-ble and according to Xiaodong (2002), it ‘‘has exerted a strong influ-ence over the Chinese conception of space’’ (p. 89). Elaborating onthe matter from an ontological perspective, he states that within fengshui

[hu]man[s] and landscape are linked together in a system of imma-nent order. Nature, consisting of balanced forces, reacts to any inter-ference imposed on it, and this reaction immediately resounds in[hu]man[s]. As in a large organism, everything is interdependentand pulsating with energy, penetrating and embracing every singlepart. The rhythm of time guided by spatial positions combines to cre-ate the Chinese conception of universe (p. 89).

The relational link between space, landscape and society encapsu-lated in the meanings associated with feng shui can be best understoodby drawing on the concept of social spatialization. Shields (1991)

C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996 977

utilizes the term social spatialization to explicate how spaces come tobe ‘seen’ as distinct from one another but also to highlight how numer-ous meanings can be allocated to the same space. For instance, (as willbe discussed) some Chinese groups may attribute feng shui symbols tocertain spaces yet these meanings may not resonate with other mem-bers of the Chinese population; resulting in contested meanings(Tunbridge & Ashworth, 1996).

Shields (1991) argues that the concept does not simply denote rela-tivism but rather it facilitates a theorization of societal relationshipsand the role they enact in mediating space. In this sense, social spatial-ization is dynamic and changes over time through the negotiation ofextant social constructions of space. Social spatialization aids theunveiling of the material circumstances of everyday life. It capturesthe complex link between social imaginaries (societal myths) as wellas the cultural (e.g., feng shui beliefs/practices) and economic (e.g.,tourism) aspects of society which imbue place with meaning. As a con-ceptual framework, it allows scholars interested in socio-spatial pro-cesses to better understand how a given place is intricately connectedto a particular cultural logic but also how place is articulated in linguis-tic and practical terms or through institutional frames (e.g., tourismbrochures).

The notion of social spatialization is derived from Lefebvre’s (1991)concept of spatial dialectics which encompasses three dimensions ofspace, namely: Representations of Space (l’espace concu); Spaces of Represen-tation (l’espace vecu); and, Spatial Practices (percu). Representations of Spacedenotes space as constructed in abstractions such as maps, plans orother codes that shape how planning professionals conceptualizeordered space. For instance, planning of cultural tourism in a givenlocation would be an example of this dimension. Spaces of Representation(or representational space) which is the most relevant to this paper, is adimension that takes into account discourses of space that inform usersor inhabitants about the constructed meanings of a given space (e.g.,tourism brochures) and/or space as it might be fully lived/experi-enced by users. For instance, tourism brochures promoting feng shuitours construct spaces of representation by drawing on various symbolismsof exotericism; the brochure content informs users and/or inhabitantsabout how to interact in the space and also how to render it intelligible.

Spatial Practices entail the creation of regions and zones but alsoencompass day to day routines which are often taken for granted(Shields, 1991). This dimension denotes an ordering and continualordering of societal practices however these spatial arrangements canbe negotiated and/or challenged. Spatial practices are mediated bythe above two dimensions and a dialectical link exists between thethree dimensions which offers insight into the makings of space orotherwise put, the social spatialization process (Shields, 1991). In thecurrent study the concept of social spatialization illustrates the rela-tional link between geographies of tourism, feng shui landscapes andthe politics of tourism representations (or representations of space).This concept also allows for a discussion on the role enacted by tourismin the articulation, ordering and reproduction of feng shui landscapes

978 C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996

within feng shui brochures. Issues of spatialization are particularly rele-vant because this type of tourism aids tourists in rendering landscapesintelligible through a particular cultural logic and it also entails thecommodification of certain spatio-cultural elements.

As a divinatory practice, feng shui has been passed down from gener-ation to generation and it continues to govern the lives of manyChinese people (Xiaodong, 2002). Some scholars regard it as ‘‘anindispensable part of Chinese cultural heritage’’ (Chen, 2007, p.103). In China, some people consult feng shui specialists prior to build-ing or buying a house; consultation may also be sought to facilitate theselection of auspicious burial locations for deceased family members(Bruun, 1996). The specialist’s duties entail evaluating the site, exam-ining the client’s birthdates and at times (mostly done in rural areas)‘‘a cock might be killed followed by the sprinkling of blood on thebuilding site’’ all in an effort to ensure the health and success of theclient and his/her family (Bruun, 1996, p. 53). Intrinsic to this divina-tory practice is a level of individual competitiveness which in many waysis maligned with the collectivist characteristics often associated withcertain aspects of Chinese culture. Additionally, feng shui encouragesburial of the dead, a practice that contradicts the government’s modusoperandi: cremation (Bruun, 1996).

Feng Shui: A Synopsis of Select Historical Events

Historically, prior to the Chinese communist regimes, royal families,officials and commoners practiced feng shui and they utilized it to gov-ern the placement of tomb sites in order to benefit living ancestors(Yin Dwelling feng shui, see Bruun, 1996), as well as the planning ofnew and growing towns/villages (Marafa, 2003). However, it was laterviewed as ignorance during Sun Yatsen’s regime (the first provisionalpresident of the Republic of China) and as superstition to be bannedduring Mao Zedong’s rule (Lai, 1974). This contestation is illustrativeof the polysemous, dynamic, ‘‘politicized, culturally relative, [and] his-torically specific’’ (Rodman, 1992, p. 641) nature of spatio-culturalmeanings in general and feng shui in particular. An attack on this divi-natory practice continued during Mao’s leadership, a period in which‘‘the communist central state rejected many past cultural traditions’’such as Confucianism and Daoism, to mention a few (Yan & Bramwell,2008, p. 972). A series of cultural movements from the New CultureMovement in the 1910s to the Cultural Revolution in the 1960s werecarried out so as to eradicate the influence of traditional culture(Gentzler, 1977).

Cognizant of the vital force between deceased ancestors and the liv-ing (chi) within the feng shui belief system, the government punishedfeng shui adherents by ‘‘wrecking graves. . .demolishing ancestor halls,shrines and tablets;’’ during this epoch, practicing feng shui was acriminal act (Bruun, 1996, p. 40). At the time, Chinese cultural heri-tage including feng shui was regarded as the major culprit for China’sbackwardness and incompatible with socialist principles so it was

C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996 979

ruthlessly cracked down through mass raids; manuals, calendars, andsome physical spaces were burnt simply because they were regardedas repositories of feng shui doctrines (Bruun, 1996). Tourism duringthis era was limited and when it occurred it was strategically used to fur-ther political agendas and to indoctrinate foreigners (e.g., visits to suc-cessful factories); visitation of cultural heritage sites for locals andinternationals was particularly forbidden (see Timothy & Nyaupane,2009; Yan & Bramwell, 2008). Consequently, in the wake of this radicalattack on traditional Chinese culture, the Chinese lost an attachmentto their cultural roots (Bruun, 1996).

In 1978, during the post-Mao era, economic reforms advocated byDeng Xiaoping who initiated the ‘‘open door’’ policy, were imple-mented to invite international involvement into the Chinese economyand to ‘modernize’ the nation (Timothy & Nyaupane, 2009; Xiao,2006; Yan & Bramwell, 2008; Zang, Chong & Ap, 1999). During thistime, tourism was regarded more as an economic tool than a politicalone resultantly by 1992 tourism was further tailored to the marketeconomy (Xiao, 2006). The open door policy facilitated a rapid influxof foreign culture and values for which the Chinese had no affinity(Sofield & Li, 1998; Yan & Bramwell, 2008). The traditional culturalblueprint that informed their cosmic view and symbiotic relationshipwith nature had been vanquished; consequently, this precipitated asense of alienation amongst the Chinese citizenry and perceptions ofannihilation from their cultural and national identities (Sofield & Li,1998; Yan & Bramwell, 2008).

Such results triggered a need, amongst the Chinese citizenry, tosearch for roots and to ground their cultural superiority/relevance;affirmations of cultural relevancy manifested in many forms (Yan &Bramwell, 2008). Bruun (1996) describes a situation wherein localsdestroyed telegraph lines and railways (built by foreign missionaries)because they regarded these landscape changes as disruptions of thechi connecting them to their deceased ancestors. The continual emer-gence of similar acts but also general societal tensions forced the gov-ernment to revisit its views towards the role of tradition (Bruun, 1996;Yan & Bramwell, 2008). Thus, in order to regain societal harmony, thegovernment implemented a ‘‘new emphasis’’ on ‘‘the rehabilitation ofnumerous cultural sites’’ that represented certain aspects of Chinesecultural traditions. Various cultural traditions were revived, for instancefeng shui was reclaimed.

In fact, in the aftermath of the Cultural Revolution, the first book onfeng shui was published in China in 1990; it sold out repeatedly signal-ing a carte blanche to publishers who until then had endured govern-ment censorship which prevented them from bringing anymanuscript on the topic to successful publication (Bruun, 1996).The author of the book, a Chinese ‘‘scholar at Southeastern Universityin Nanjing,’’ negotiated dominant interpretations of feng shui as super-stition by emphasizing frames of learning and knowledge; earlierpublications by various Chinese authors had been censored (all ac-counts of superstition removed) and subsequently banned (Bruun,1996, p. 53). These cultural changes were accompanied by the

980 C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996

decentralization of tourism administration in China resultantly, grant-ing relative power to various stakeholders to develop cultural tourismprograms (Yan & Bramwell, 2008, p. 978), such as feng shui tourism.Ironically, as the Chinese government during Mao era enthusiasticallysuppressed feng shui practices, Chinese cosmology was gaining promi-nence in the West, wherein the focus was on harnessing of harmoniousrelationships between humans and nature for people’s wellbeing(Bruun, 2003; Mak & Ng, 2005).

The Western (re)articulation of feng shui coincided with the revival ofspiritualism in the West as well as Western interest in Chinese culturewhich in part contributed, to the feng shui product market boom thatoccurred in the West during the 1990s (Bruun, 1996). Many westerncorporations such as McDonald’s and Disney have adopted feng shuiprinciples in the design of their establishments, particularly those lo-cated in Asia (Bonaiuto et al., 2010). It has ‘‘earned praise from suchnotables as Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and Tommy Hilfiger, and hasbeen put into practice in the offices of such firms as The Body Shop,British Airways and Chase Manhattan Bank’’ (Binkley, 2008, p. 602).In general, the aforementioned factors have contributed to the growthof the Chinese cultural tourism industry and the genesis of feng shuitourism as a niche market. Interestingly however, the appropriationof feng shui as a tourism product has occurred in spite of the Chinesegovernment’s continual view of feng shui as an old superstition (Bruun,2003).

In fact, feng shui is still a contested practice/belief in mainland Chinaand elsewhere in the world. To this end, the development of feng shuitourism within a nation that has yet to officially sanction this practice/belief is paradoxical and leads one to question how this tradition thatmany, both in the past and present, in China and abroad, perceive of assuperstition is discursively commodified as a lucrative tourism product?Additionally, how is this ancient divinatory practice of the peripheryrelocated to the center in order to make it more accessible and accept-able to foreign tourists? How is it appropriated by tourism, spatially in-scribed and (re)articulated as a relatively acceptable social practice?Specifically, what discursive strategies are deployed, within feng shuitourism brochures, to help tourists to render feng shui landscapes intel-ligible? Responses to these questions can be addressed through theunderstanding of the concept of social spatialization which, as dis-cussed earlier, focuses on the interplay between people and placeand the mediation of place meanings.

To date and within tourism scholarship, most feng shui related re-search has predominantly focused on the link between this divinatorypractice and capitalism (see Chang & Lii, 2010) as well as its impact onintercultural business practices (Hobson, 1994). Similarly, although re-search on tourism geographies has been instrumental in highlightingthe various social constructions of tourism landscapes, it has howevernot actively engaged conceptions of space as related to ancient indige-nous cosmologies (i.e., feng shui). Furthermore, relatively few studieshave focused on the ‘‘world-shaping/ world making projective author-ity of tourism’’ through critical interrogations of the significatory

C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996 981

practices evident within tourism promotional discourses (Hollinshead,2003, p. 267); ‘‘we need new nomadic thoughtlines to understand howpeoples, places and pasts are conceived, constructed, and valued’’(Hollinshead & Jamal, 2001, p. 61).

Thus, this paper contributes to the ongoing dialogue on social spa-tialization processes and augments knowledge on the significatorypractices of tourism by examining how the divinatory practice and phi-losophy of feng shui is articulated and spatially inscribed within tourismdiscourses; specifically, within brochures promoting feng shui tours toChina for Western tourists. Utilizing content analysis, this study exam-ines latent meanings with the goal of understanding the representa-tional politics entailed in (re)articulating an ancient divinatorypractice through tourism. According to Chen (2007) investigationsof this nature are necessary because feng shui ‘‘continues to play animportant role in the contemporary Chinese world, it is [therefore]important for scholars in different disciplines to systematically studyfeng shui in order to better understand the Chinese way of thinkingand behavior’’ (Chen, 2007, p. 102) as well as its imprint on the touredlandscapes.

TOURISM AND THE LANDSCAPES OF INDIGENOUSCOSMOLOGY

Indigenous cosmologies, like feng shui, and their associated land-scapes have long been appropriated and commodified for tourismand many are often articulated through mythical frames. Myths are cre-ated both by selectively collecting historical facts or traditional prac-tices of certain places and by rediscovering fictional stories. Forinstance, voodoo, which is a practice/belief that combines RomanCatholicism, Native American beliefs, and African cultural practices,is strictly framed, within tourism, as a mystical practice associated solelywith Africans (Osbye, 2011). A similar construction is evidenced inHuaquechula, Mexico where the Day of the Dead, a time at which itis believed that the souls of the dead return, is heavily promoted aspre-Hispanic despite its direct link to Catholicism (Cano & Mysyk,2004). In essence, mythical frames also entail constructions of the ‘exo-tic Other.’ Myths associated with voodoo tourism entail accounts ofpriestesses, proliferation of voodoo doll souvenirs, and tours focusedon necromancy, which are all, according to Osbye (2011), mythicalconstructions.

Voodoo was once an accepted cultural practice in New Orleans butwas later forbidden after an ordinance was passed by the city’s gover-nors; despite continuing anxieties regarding its meaning it has contin-ued to be a ‘product’ available for thrill seeking tourists (Gotham,2007). Likewise meanings associated with shamanic cosmologies suchas the indigenous rituals of ayahuasca, a hallucinognic tea used by sha-mans or curanderos in the Amazon to heal members of their communi-ties, have evolved as the practice has been co-opted by tourism.Tourism brochure accounts describing this practice divert attention

982 C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996

away from the spiritual, cathartic and therapeutic aspects traditionallyassociated with the ritual and rather focus on hedonistic and psycho-escapist components induced by the tea (Holman, 2011; Winkelman,2000). Matters are further complicated when one considers that, onone hand, the practice is threatened by US anti-narcotic agencies thatwant to ban it, and on the other hand, it is highly sought out by USpharmaceutical companies that want to patent it. These indigenouscosmologies are therefore inevitably (re)defined by the prevailingsocio-cultural, political and economic order with which tourism (in)-directly interacts to mediate meanings associated with past culturalpractices for contemporary society.

METHODS

Content analysis, a sociological technique for analyzing mediated dis-courses about people and places, was utilized in the current inquiry(see Krippendorff, 1980; Neuendorf, 2002; Weber, 1990). Specifically,this study utilized latent content analysis which involves a search for im-plicit meanings embedded in texts and provides in-depth understand-ings of the emergent categories (Berg, 2004). The data collectionprocess commenced with the collection of print and online brochurespromoting feng shui tours. Through an online search of keywords suchas ‘‘China,’’ ‘‘tour,’’ ‘‘travel,’’ ‘‘feng shui,’’ tour companies offering thetype of travel in question were identified. The search yielded results offifteen establishments that provide this form of travel; print brochureswere requested and in some cases electronic versions of the brochureswere downloaded in preparation for the analytical process.

A total of fifteen brochures, one from each establishment, were eval-uated. All the brochures promoted travel to China for Western touristsand accordingly featured promotional messages in English. Once thebrochures were assembled, the texts were read through carefully forcomprehension and subsequently sorted into content areas: textsdescribing how participants would experience the landscape; textsdescribing the meanings of landscape; and, texts describing the spatialknowledge providers. Texts from each content area were separatedinto meaning units which were later condensed into descriptions re-lated to the text (Krippendorff, 1980); this step also aided in the crea-tion of content categories (see Table 1). The entire promotion contextwas taken into account throughout the condensing and category for-mation stage (Adler & Adler, 1988).

Interpretations of the brochure texts were collectively derived withparticular attention paid to the micro-level symbolisms pertaining tothe description of Chinese landscapes as well as the macro-level sym-bolisms relating to the global audience. In an attempt to enhance cred-ibility, the textual categories were evaluated and revised by two coders(Coffey & Atkinson, 1996). One issue encountered by the coders waswhether the didactic category was emblematic of authenticity. Throughdetailed discussion of the issue, the coders agreed upon the termdidactic. The researchers are cognizant of the polysemous nature of

Table 1. Examples of Meaning Units, Condensed Meaning Units andCategories

Meaning Units Condensed Meaning Units Category

Your life will be forever changed Life changing experience Transformativeexperiencesinduced byfeng shuilandscapes

Feel their divinities. . .touch the spiritof the mountain. . .see how theinfluence of feng shui . . .

Full sensorial experience offeng shui landscapes

Embodimentof feng shuilandscapes

Experienced practitioners. . .taught. . .thousands of students. . .conduct[s]workshops. . .

Experienced practitioners whoadopt didactic methods

Didactic approachto feng shuitourism

C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996 983

texts as well as the influence of their varying values, beliefs and overalllife experiences on the object of study. Nonetheless, as Asian andNorth American scholars, who are neither adherents nor agnostics withrespect to feng shui, they bring unique interpretations to the interroga-tion of the socialization processes evident in the content of feng shuitourism brochures.

FINDINGS

The analyzed brochures revealed that various essentialisms are oftenutilized to lure potential tourists. The brochure content informs read-ers that the promoted journey promises a life changing experiencethrough which the reader will be existentially transformed. In thissense, the brochures describe an embodied encounter with feng shuilandscapes. For instance, comments such as the following are featuredin the brochures: ‘‘Don’t wait another moment! Give yourself the giftof a lifetime. Make this journey and your life will be forever changed!Don’t miss this opportunity’’ (Feng Shui Artistry). Similarly one bro-chure states that the tour ‘‘promises the opportunity to experiencesome of the most mystical and spiritual places in the world. Bring ajournal to record your special journey to your soul’’ (Feng ShuiArtistry). This transformative experience entails the merging of theexternal and internal, the self and landscape, the ordinary (physicalspace) and the extraordinary (imagined space). As a result, the fengshui tourist ‘‘emerges as a new initiate — capable of participating inthe all-pervading harmony and communion’’ (Singh & Singh, 2009,p. 140).

The uniqueness of feng shui landscapes located in China is articu-lated by differentiating the nation from other geopolitical locales.For instance one brochure states: ‘‘Why go anywhere else in Asia whenyou can visit the city where Feng Shui never sleeps’’ (Hong KongTours). Thus, various essentialisms are weaved into the brochure con-tent resulting in what Kahn (1990) refers to as the ‘‘spatial anchoring

984 C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996

of myth’’ (p. 54). Various symbolisms are drawn upon in an attempt todirect the reader’s gaze to the uniqueness and in many ways sacrednessof the promoted landscape. Within this mediated tourist gaze, certainbuilt, natural and metaphysical symbols are chosen in the constructionof an exoteric spatial narrative. For instance, one of the brochures in-forms readers of the link between the divinatory practice and architec-tural structures. It states:

. . .FUNG SHUI, or ‘Wind & Water’, is a 3,000 year-old system of geo-mantic divination teaching humans how to achieve harmony with theforces of nature and change, thereby gaining prosperity. Start at LungCheung Road lookout, which permits us to view the old Kai Tak Inter-national Airport and examine how the geographical make-up ofHong Kong meets the criteria of forming a good configuration. Thenit is onto Wanchai to see the Nine Dragon Wall in Wanchai wherewealthy merchants employed the principles of Feng Shui to influencethe surroundings around them (China Highlights).

Similarly, one brochure links feng shui architecture to accounts ofcommercial prominence and aesthetics. It states that:

You will learn how the design of the Imperial Palace and temple ofChina closely follow the feng shui principles. . . what difference fengshui energy makes Beijing a political capital and Shanghai a commer-cial city, and how the appreciation of natural beauty is reflected in theelegant Chinese garden (Blue Mountain Feng Shui Institute).

Yet another brochure features an example of a building which hascapitalized on feng shui principles. Readers are informed that the meta-physical facets of this building will be revealed to them:

[this] guided tour . . . introduce[s] the Chinese philosophy of fengshui. . ...[which] aims for harmony, and when this is achieved goodluck, synonymous with health and wealth, will follow. We start ourguided walk in the Central business district, taking in the environ-ment of the HSBC bank building and its location on a Dragon’s pulse.Moving along we visit the new China Bank Tower, which has an inter-esting slant on feng shui (Walk Hong Kong).

The above three excerpts are exemplary of the fact that ‘‘specificknowledge is ‘bound into’ specific landmarks’’ (Salmond, 1982, p.84). In this case, feng shui knowledge informed the construction ofthe buildings and this knowledge is further sustained through feng shuitourism.

The brochure content also informs readers that they will partake in asensorial experience. Sensorial accounts are underpinned with didacticframes through which the reader is explicitly/implicitly informed thatthe tour entails learning and dissemination of knowledge; this discur-sive strategy is similar to that employed in the first book publishedon feng shui after the Cultural Revolution in China (see earlier discus-sion). The excerpt below captures the sensorial aspects of the tourjuxtaposed with the didactic frames which are encompassed in theuse of verbs such as ‘find,’ ‘identify,’ and ‘investigate,’ all of whichaid the anchoring of knowledge within the landscapes in question.

C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996 985

In this tour our focus is on finding the 9 Dragons of Kowloon. We willlocate, identify and investigate these dragons and see how they influ-ence the lives of local people. We also visit a famous Hong Kong tem-ple, home base to many Feng Shui and astrology Masters. . . Listen tovivid explanations of how the Feng Shui of many famous Hong Konglandmarks was calculated and what Feng Shui has achieved. . . Travelby Ferry up the Pearl River Delta into China where we will stay threenights and feel the Feng Shui for ourselves (Jodi Bruner).

Similarly, the brochure excerpt below also promotes a sensorialexperience as it invites readers to journey to the spatial genesis of fengshui. It states:

Journey to the feng shui sources – Sacred Mountains, Monasteriesand Temples of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism. We will expe-rience their living traditions, feel their divinities, in the company ofmonks and scholars, and touch the spirit of the mountains, monaster-ies and temples, as we travel. . . see how . . . the influence of Feng Shuiaffected the planning of temples and monasteries in practice. In thistrip, Chinese cosmology is made visible (Howard Choy).

Readers are informed that beyond comprehending the mechanics offeng shui they will sense various metaphysical facets of the landscapes inquestion. The disembodied act of touring is replaced with an activeexistential exploration of the landscape. The tourist as a detached ob-server in space (flaneur) and one who is in search of ephemeral spatialencounters, is not the type of tourist envisioned for the described spa-tiality (see Benjamin, 1973 for details on the flaneur). The above ex-cerpts are exemplary of the fact that ‘‘narratives of places are notjust told with words; they can be told and heard with senses other thanspeech and hearing’’ (Rodman, 1992, p. 649).

Furthermore, the excerpts articulate an embodiment of space whichis ‘‘the ways in which the individual grasps the world around him/herand makes sense of it in ways that engage both mind and body’’(Crouch, 2000, p. 63). The mind is weaved into the promoted spatialexperience through accounts of active learning. For instance, the FengShui Artistry brochure state that the guide will teach participants to:

see, feel and touch the 5 Elements of Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal andWater. Learn about their colors, shapes and forms. Absorb the myster-ies of temple traditions, such as: Why do you enter from the rightdoorway? Why is the entry elevated? What do the brass knobs ondoors reveal? Why is incense burned continually at these sites? Visitmedicinal herb shops to see the plants for healing. View art imagesfilled with ancient symbols. Treat the senses with vibrant deliciousfoods, indulge in a relaxing massage, immerse yourself in China’sscenery. . . (Feng Shui Artistry)

The above narratives of feng shui landscapes construct an interactiveexperiential space and as a result, a certain tourist cultural identity isinscribed in the space and on self (Wearing, Stevenson, & Young,2010, p. 8). The self-transformation that is accompanied with sensingthe landscape is a metaphysical connection that is often associated withmany Asian philosophies and practices, such as yoga or Tai Chi, but

986 C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996

also generally present in most New Age beliefs (Guo, 2006). Addition-ally, the reproduction of feng shui landscapes as sensed, evidenced inthe above excerpts, is in sync with Haldrup’s (2004) thesis that spaceis not ‘‘ontologically given,’’ but rather ‘‘produced through discursiveand embodied practices of corporeal movement’’ (Haldrup, 2004, p.435). These discourses of space (spaces of representation) locate the bodyin the landscape and as a result senses, perceptions and movements areportrayed as ‘‘as being both in and of landscape, and gather landscapetogether as lived milieu’’ (Wylie, 2005, p. 240).

The didactic thrust evident in most of the feng shui brochures is ofinterest because this discursive strategy implicitly legitimizes feng shuiand by so doing aims to convince Westerners, in particular, and skep-tics, in general that feng shui is a rational practice that is distinct fromthe irrationality that characterizes superstitious acts. This discursivestrategy entails a reconfiguration of the roles enacted by tour guideand the tourist; the former is portrayed as an experienced master offeng shui and international pedagogue and the latter is depicted as astudent. The brochures go to great lengths to list the credentials ofthe feng shui masters. Readers are presented with descriptions thatmove beyond accounts of the tour guide as mere information providerto portrayals of individuals who exhibit specific credentials. Someexamples of this discursive strategy are as follows:

Mr. Yu is an experienced practitioner of feng shui who has taught thediscipline to thousands of students for more than twenty years. Hecan provide feng shui consultancy services to, or conduct workshopsfor groups upon request (Hong Kong Tours).

The use of the word ‘experienced’ coupled with pedagogical termssuch as ‘taught,’ ‘consult’ and ‘conduct workshops’ demonstrate Mr.Yu’s efficacy and highlight his credibility as an individual with the abil-ity to effectively disseminate information in a rational manner. Simi-larly, some readers are informed of another tour guide, Caroline, who

. . .traveled to China in 2004 and Taiwan in 2007 with her Master Tea-cher, His Holiness Grandmaster Lin Yun of B.T.B., as a senior stu-dent, and continues to attend his world-wide workshops. Carolineowned ‘‘Caroline’s Arts & Feng Shui Shoppe’’ near San Franciscofor nine years, which provided her with the opportunity to conductover 5000 Feng Shui consultations. She continues to consult individ-uals and at corporate facilities here and abroad about The Art ofPlacement and uses her abilities as an artist, illustrator, newspapercolumnist (‘‘WEST MEETS EAST’’ for the Benicia Herald, in CA)as a format to educate her readers about detail design, how the dwell-ing affects the health and wellbeing of its owners and passes on directinformation to her clients from Master Lin (Feng Shui Artistry).

Like Mr. Yu, the description of Caroline also mentions the availabil-ity of consultation services. This information is complemented with ac-counts of Caroline’s role a columnist for an established Westernnewspaper; this discursive strategy presents her as someone who hasa public following within Western society given her ability to effectivelycommunicate with her audiences. However, given that Carolina is a

C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996 987

Westerner, descriptions of her as a feng shui master demonstrate proofof access to this ancient divinatory practice and this is accomplishedthrough the mentioning of a local Master from whom she attainedknowledge (who begat whom), in this case Master BTB. In general,the mentioned credentials add to the symbolic power of the con-structed spatial narratives.

Another brochure informs readers of a tour offered by Dr. Hsu’s whowas born in Taiwan and

was guided by his father and other masters, from childhood on, in allaspects of the disciplines that involve the development and explora-tion of life force (chi or qi). His formal education, on the other hand,which culminated in his Ph.D. from the University of Washington,provided the balance of rigorous scientific training. Dr. Hsu empha-sizes that the true feng shui principles are universal; they are indepen-dent of religion, culture, and custom (Blue Mountain Institute).

As an Asian native, Dr. Hsu’s legitimacy as a feng shui tour guide isestablished through the mentioning of his genealogical affiliations aswell as access to local knowledge disseminated by feng shui masters.His local credentials are complemented with the mentioning of hisinternational education which aims to convince Western audiences thathe is a well learned individual and a far cry from any concocted imagesof an illiterate individual disseminating superstitious information.

Yet another example, which describes a tour offered by three guides,informs readers that they:

. . .will be accompanied by three specialists. . .Dr. Volker Olles is aSinologist specialized in Daoism; Gyda Anders and Howard Choyare both practicing Feng Shui Architects, with a deep knowledge ofFeng Shui. They will ensure that the experience and the knowledgeyou are about to obtain is an authentic and genuine one (HowardChoy).

The information in the above excerpt continues the trend evidencedin previously discussed vignettes however it further entrenches the sci-entific frame through the descriptions of the tour guides as ‘‘sinolo-gists’’, ‘‘architects’’ and the use of qualifying descriptors such as‘‘genuine’’ and ‘‘authentic.’’ In essence, the qualifications of the toursguides aid in the construction of the tour in question as reliable interms of the nature of information provided but arguably it is also amarketing ploy.

The vignette below is similar to the excerpt mentioned earlierdescribing Caroline’s tour. Helen and James, are two featured tourguides who like Caroline are linked to Master BTB. The mentioningof this particular Master aims to establish the guides as credible spokes-people on the issue of feng shui. The description alludes to the provi-sion of certificates of completion which further situates the tourwithin a pedagogic arena. It states:

Helen and James Jay are internationally recognized consultants andinstructors of B.T.B. Feng Shui and are senior students of H.H.Thomas Lin Yun, Grand Master of the B.T.B. school of Feng Shui.In addition, they have trained in China and the U.S. and they

988 C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996

established China Studies Travel—All participants will receive a certif-icate of Completion of Feng Shui Immersion in China (China StudiesTravel).

Similarly a tour offered by Master Jodi follows a similar trend. Itstates:

The tour caters to serious Feng Shui students, practitioners andenthusiasts who will benefit from Master Jodi’s 15 years knowledgeand expertise. See Hong Kong through Feng Shui eyes! Not simplya tour it is an educational experience (Jodi Bruner).

The above excerpts feature personal experiences/accomplishments(credentials) to highlight the practitioner’s credibility with respect tothe promoted cultural/educational performance. The evocation ofexperience, credentials and knowledge transference (who begatwhom) is rare within tourism contexts and certainly speaks to con-scious efforts to present the tour as a serious experience. The paradoxhere of course is that most masters are non Asian yet they are the keypeople introducing this central aspect of Chinese culture.

Arguably, the hybridity evident in the relationship between the for-eign tour guide who presents authentic Chinese culture is another le-vel of legitimizing or making an ancient divinatory practice moreculturally acceptable for foreign groups. In the above excerpts, Wes-tern masters are legitimized via their educational affiliation with Asianmasters whilst Asian masters (see Dr. Hsu) are legitimized throughtheir western education. That which the reader is not informed aboutis that within the traditional Chinese setting no such systemization ofknowledge is performed as most traditional practitioners attainedknowledge informally through genealogical connections (Bruun,1996). By contrast, the feng shui tour guide, operating within a globalsetting, utilizes what some have referred as western scientific framesto legitimize his/her ability to disseminate indigenous knowledge. Thisdiscursive strategy is one of the ways in which feng shui is incrementallydislodged from the cultural periphery, where it can be ignored orlabeled as an irrational belief of the margins, to the core where it is pre-sented as a science and a rational practice that can be taught to main-stream society.

DISCUSSION

The findings indicate that feng shui brochures utilized myths as a sys-tematic mechanism in their (re)construction of Chinese landscapes.Myths are often utilized by tourism promoters to construct exoticand idealized versions of place in order to lure tourists (Cano & Mysyk,2004; Inglis & Holmes, 2003). One of the mythical frames adopted inthe creation of feng shui tour narratives is that of an existentially trans-formative experience for participating tourists. That is, tourists are in-formed that their presence within feng shui landscapes will instigatememorable psychosomatic transformations. Such framings are cap-tured within Shields’s (1991) discussion of the social imaginings or

C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996 989

societal myths entailed in the construction of spatial meanings. Yet an-other mythical frame adopted in the creation of feng shui tour narra-tives is the presentation of the nation at large as willingly espousingfeng shui principles; entire communities are portrayed as though theyall actively embrace feng shui doctrines. Yet there are numerous exam-ples of opposition to feng shui before and after Mao’s regime.

Discussing societal tensions within Chinese antiquity, Obringer(2005) cites an example of opposition to the divinatory practice asarticulated by a Ming Dynasty scholar, Xie Zhaozhe (1567–1624) whostated:

Among those who are fooled by the ‘earth principles’, my compatriotsfrom Fujian are the worst. Some use a hundred stratagems through-out their lives without ever having any success; others are duped bythe geomancers and eventually ruined because of burials. Still others,who are rich and from great families, obtain some land that is basi-cally excellent but they think it is full of faults and not pleasant tolook at; consequently they erect mounds, turn the fields into slopeswhich they put walls around, create streams, build bridges andterraces. . ..It only conceals the truth, and what’s the point! Tiringyourself out blocking the veins of the earth cannot bring good for-tune, in fact it creates disasters (as cited by Obringer, 2005, p. 61).

Likewise, documents written by missionaries to China during thecolonial era adopt a similar tenor; as one of the first groups of ‘visitors’to China, missionaries also viewed feng shui as irrational and a supersti-tion because it, in many ways inhibited them from making physicalchanges (e.g., agriculture, engineering or construction) within the nat-ural landscape (see Eitel, 1873). Thus, the articulation of feng shui ashaving ‘‘evolved in a linear and homogeneous manner to form a per-fectly coherent system, regardless of location in China,’’ is to say theleast, illusory because spatial meanings are constantly negotiated andcontested (Obringer, 2005, p. 56).

Furthermore, within the brochures, different locations are united ina spatial discourse that gives the illusion of seamless boundaries andunproblematically linked communities; resultantly the significant geo-graphical variations intrinsic to feng shui cosmology are overlooked. Forinstance, there are two schools of thought, originating from distinctparts of China, through which feng shui can be interpreted, namely,the Forms School and the Compass School (Lee, 1989). The formeris linked to Yan Yun-Sung, a scholar in the Tang Dynasty whose writingshighlighted ‘‘the propitious site to position a grave or erect a buildingby the closest possible observation . . .of the natural landscape’’ such asmountains, valleys, and rivers (Obringer, 2005). The latter is associatedwith Wang Ji, a scholar during the Song Dynasty whose writings sub-scribe to the doctrine of the ‘‘the eight trigrams and the five planetsto determine the principles for producing and conquering’’ the fiveelements which are fire, water, metal, earth and wood (Obringer,2005, p. 58). Interpretations of feng shui landscapes inevitably differbased on the school of thought one chooses to adopt; this is a distinc-tion that is overlooked in the analyzed tourism brochures.

990 C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996

The analyzed brochures construct spatial myths through accounts ofexistential transformation and societal homogeneity across space andtime; the end result is an emergent meta-narrative that undermines avariety of micro-spatial socio-political discourses. These discourses ofspace inform users about the constructed meanings but they can alsobe transcended, as seen in the example above, by users/habitants thatcreate their own spatial meanings (spaces of representation). Arguably,feng shui brochure narratives are constructed in a manner that re-sponds to potential criticisms particularly those from interlocutorswho believe feng shui is nothing more than superstition. As such effortsare taken to present a credible front that responds to potential criti-cism and or skepticism. This is accomplished through four strategies.The first entails elevating the role of the tour guide from mere infor-mation provider or path finder to revered teacher or renowned masterwith years of experience and/or connections to a prominent lineage offeng shui practitioners.

According to Cohen (1985) a tour guide can either enact the role ofa pathfinder or a mentor. The former literally shows tourists the pathto embark on particularly, within inter-cultural contexts. The role oflatter entails dissemination and interpretation of information. Tradi-tionally, the exchange of information between the mentor and touristalso incorporated eminent people who were experts on a topic in ques-tion however; according to scholars this component is not as commonwithin contemporary tours (Adler, 1989). The feng shui tour guide isperhaps a combination of the traditional mentor and pathfinder inthat s/he illuminates the path for foreign tourists, provides interpreta-tions of culture but is also an eminent practitioner on the subject mat-ter of feng shui. The second strategy involves what some have referred toas the scientification of feng shui whereby knowledge of the divinatorypractice is standardized and those who attain it are granted certain cre-dentials. The contemporary process (scientification) differs in compar-ison to the ways in which feng shui knowledge was disseminatedin Chinese antiquity but also how individuals came to be known asmasters.

This strategy manifests in the analyzed brochures via narratives thatimplicitly discourage flaneurie and rather promotes active learningwhich is facilitated by a ‘certified’ teacher who guides participantsalong the path of experiential learning of feng shui doctrines. The trans-parency evidenced in both the allusion to the credentials ofthe teacher/master and the pedagogical spatial setting allow for thesilencing of accounts of superstition which are often associated with ob-scure and non-rational processes. Thus, views of feng shui as superstitionare further countered by embedding its rearticulation within a scien-tific frame of education. Thirdly, the narrative aims to delimit whohas the power to lead tours through which knowledge on feng shui is dis-seminated. In essence, the mentioning of teachers/masters and theircredentials is similar to what Lindstrom (1990, p. 78) refers to as ‘‘geo-graphic copyright’’. Those without similar credentials are implicitly dis-credited. The above excerpts are thus indicative of the fact that spatialknowledge of feng shui landscapes entails ‘‘competing. . . [discursive]

C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996 991

power plays and assertions’’ (Rodman, 1992, p. 652) which influencewho can speak in and of the particular space; the described tour guidesare awarded geographic copyright.

The notion of geographic copyright will be increasingly relevant tofuture discussions of feng shui tourism particularly, given the currentdebate between China and Korea regarding which nation holds right-ful claim to the divinatory practice of feng shui. Fourth, the scientificframe evident in the analyzed brochures circumvents theological dog-mas and in essence, adopts what Bruun (1996) refers to as de-spiritual-ization, which is accomplished by replacing accounts of gods, ancestorsand ghosts with accounts of the natural environment and its harmoni-ous link to humans. This particular discursive strategy removes feng shuifrom any association with organized ecclesiastical religion but rathergrounds it in the belief system of industrial capitalism that many poten-tial feng shui tourists (un)consciously ‘pay allegiance’ to. The brochuresimplicitly inform readers that they will gain knowledge that will allowthem to better navigate their existence in modern society; fears of fail-ure, illness, and loss of wealth are remedied through knowledge of fengshui as participants learn how to attain success, gain wealth, and main-tain health.

In this sense, this indigenous cosmology is articulated as vital knowl-edge needed for overall wellbeing. These are some of the ways in whichthis ancient divinatory practice is rearticulated for touristic purposes ina way that is readily acceptable to members of western society; inessence, dislodging feng shui from the periphery more to the center.The findings also highlight ways in which feng shui landscapes are artic-ulated as therapeutic landscapes that offer a link between environ-ment, spirituality and overall wellbeing. The landscapes selected fortouring are articulated as places that promote wellness, harmony,and success. The concept of therapeutic landscapes deals with a holis-tic socio-ecological model of health that focuses on the complex inter-actions between physical, spiritual, societal and environmentalelements and their impact on wellbeing (Williams, 1998). Therapeuticlandscapes are places with ‘‘an enduring reputation for achieving phys-ical, mental, and spiritual healing’’ (Gesler, 1993, p. 171). These land-scapes offer settings through which therapeutic activities are enactedbut they also offer ways of seeing and being in the landscape. Throughthe discursive strategy brochure readers were alerted to the harmoni-ous and healing properties of feng shui landscapes.

Readers are also invited to not only take the opportunity to be exis-tentially transformed in these spaces but to also actively learn about thespatial configurations of these healing landscapes. There is thereforean active call for an embodied experience of feng shui landscapesand in this sense it can be argued that the brochure content implicitlyproblematizes the role of the onlooker as distanced, and rather pro-motes an embodied subjectivity that is tangled in the complexities ofplace. According to Crouch (2000, p. 68) there are three ways in whichsocial agents engage space and space becomes embodied. Firstly, thetourist ‘‘grasps the world multi-dimensionally’’ via the active use ofall senses, smell, taste, touch, hearing and sight. Secondly, ‘‘the body

992 C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996

is surrounded by space and encounters it multi-dimensionally’’ andthis is influenced by the culture, values and beliefs espoused by theindividual in question. Lastly, the guide and tourist engage the spacein such as way as to express a sense of self on the space as a resultco-constructing spatial meanings. The embodiment of space thusentails multiple layers and, in this case, it also requires the tour guideand the tourist to assume identities of pedagogue and student,respectively.

CONCLUSION

Drawing on the concept of social spatialization this paper examinesthe articulation of the divinatory practice and philosophy of feng shuiwithin feng shui tourism brochures. The analyzed content reveals thevarious ways through which this indigenous cosmology is re-articulatedfor western audiences. The significance of the discursive strategies uti-lized within the analyzed feng shui brochures are best understood inrelation to the socio-spatial politics through which the divinatory prac-tice has evolved; as such we revisit select historical events in order tooffer a synopsis of the spatialization processes that inform contempo-rary reconceptualizations of feng shui landscapes within tourism. Dur-ing the imperial era, representations of space, which Lefebvre (1991)describes as abstract representations or conceptions of space linkedto production relations, were devised by professional planners. Suchconceptions of space were not unique to China but unlike most Wes-tern towns/communities, space was ordered according to knowledgeof feng shui (which is itself a spatialization) to ensure the harmonyand success of a given town/community.

Through symbolic systems of meaning, otherwise referred to byLefebvre (1991) as spaces of representation, inhabitants/users were pro-vided with codes to enable them to attain a certain level of ‘‘spatialcompetence’’ to guide ‘‘spatial performances;’’ for instance, knowl-edge of ancestral tombs as sacred ensured that these areas were not dis-rupted (Shields, 1991, p. 52). Books, manuals, and calendars weresome of the repositories for the symbolic systems of meaning pertain-ing to feng shui but so too were local feng shui specialists who throughgenealogical affiliation (often paternal) decoded spatial symbols andprovided advice regarding spatial performances (e.g., the auspiciousbuilding of a house or the placement of a grave). Overtime, spatial prac-tices related to feng shui were ‘‘concretized in the built environment andsedimented in the landscape’’ (Shields, 1991, p. 53); however theywere also contested. In fact, Shields (1991) maintains that ‘‘the closelywoven fabric of social practices and conventions [is disrupted] throughinterventions at the level of spatial practices’’ (p. 53).

In the case of China, the government endorsed mass raids throughwhich books/manuals and physical spaces of symbolic value to feng shuiadherents were destroyed. Challenging dominant ideologies, someadherents of feng shui: practiced behind closed doors despite govern-ment views of the practice as a criminal act (Bruun, 1996); and in

C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996 993

one instance, resorted to burning new structures imposed on the land-scape by foreigners (i.e., the destruction of telegraph poles and railwaysbuilt by foreign missionaries in locations perceived to disrupt chi fromancestral tombs to living descendants). These events are indicative ofLefebvre’s (1991) assertion that spatial practices not only entail a levelof order and reordering but also the negotiation and resistance of spa-tial meanings. In fact, forms of symbolic resistance occurred in part, inthe form of attempts to replace destroyed manuals through the publi-cation of new books most of which were banned because their contentswere often judged by government officials as superstitious; any discus-sions of burial sites was censored (Bruun, 1996).

Success was attained in the 90s by one particular Chinese scholarwhose book rearticulated feng shui through frames of learning andknowledge; allegedly government officials did not intercept thepublication/ re-printing of the book signaling a carte blanche forpublishers and authors alike (Bruun, 1996). Interestingly, similar ped-agogical frames are utilized in the re-articulation of feng shui withinthe analyzed feng shui tourism brochures through the reconfigurationof the roles of tourists as students and those of tour guides as peda-gogues. Conversely, this discursive strategy not only abides by a ‘triedand test’ approach to discussing feng shui in China but it also obviatesany discussion of superstition by grounding the practice in rationality,orderliness, pedagogy and science. By so doing, tourism brochuresconstruct ‘‘new modes of spatial practices’’ (Shields, 1991, p. 54).That is, the symbolic system is re-signified and a distinct level of spa-tial competence and associated spatial performances are articulated(i.e., active student and experienced international pedagogue). Resul-tantly, these social spaces, which the Cultural Revolution derided ofsocietal use, are granted new symbolic value and utility throughtourism; these spaces are conceptualized as landscapes of tourismconsumption.

One may ask whether tourism has been instrumental in the revival ofthis cultural practice or whether tourism has simply been used as a toolthrough which to cement new meanings of the practice that are betteraligned with governmental ideologies on the matter. As an exploratoryendeavor, this inquiry raises more questions than answers. As such,subsequent investigations that examine feng shui tourism and its socialspatialization are necessary to better understand how this ancient divi-natory practice/belief is appropriated for the present and the conse-quences of such actions. Inquiries that focus on Chinese governmentpolicies regarding feng shui as well as studies that highlight lived spatial-izations as articulated by habitants/users and feng shui tourists can aug-ment knowledge on the matter. Future investigative forays on thismatter have to take into account that the discursive production of fengshui landscapes is a multifaceted process through which the complexdualities between local/global, dominant/marginal, rational/irratio-nal, truth/superstition, real/imagined, and student/teacher com-plexly inform the re-articulation of the ancient divinatory practicefor contemporary society.

994 C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996

REFERENCES

Adler, J. (1989). Origins of sightseeing. Annals of Tourism Research, 16(1), 7–29.Adler, P. A., & Adler, P. (1988). Observational techniques. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S.

Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials (pp. 79–109).London: Sage Publications.

Benjamin, W. (1973). Charles Baudelaire: A lyric poet in the era of high capitalism. Trans.H. Zohn. London: New Left Books.

Berg, B. (2004). An introduction to content analysis: Qualitative research methods (5thed.). New York: Pearson.

Binkley, S. (2008). Liquid consumption: Anti-consumerism and the fetishized de-fetishization of commodities. Cultural Studies, 22(5), 599–623.

Blue Mountain Institute. (n.d.) Retrieved August 15, 2010 from: <http://www.bluemountainfengshui.com/>.

Bonaiuto, M., Bilotta, E., & Stolfa, A. (2010). Feng shui and environmentalpsychology: A critical comparison. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research,27(1), 23–34.

Braswell-Means, L. (1990). The popular art of geomancy in the medieval West andcontemporary Asia. Journal of Popular Culture, 23(4), 131–143.

Bruun, O. (1996). The feng shui resurgence in China: Conflicting cosmologiesbetween state and peasantry. The China Journal, 36, 47–65.

Bruun, O. (2003). Fengshui in China: Geomantic divination between state orthodoxy andpopular religion. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.

Cano, L. M., & Mysyk, A. (2004). Cultural tourism, the state, and day of the dead.Annals of Tourism Research, 31(4), 879–898.

Chang, W. L., & Lii, P. (2010). Feng shui and its role in corporate image andreputation: A review from business and cultural perspectives. Journal ofArchitectural and Planning Research, 27(1), 1–12.

Chen, G. M. (2007). The impact of feng shui on Chinese communication. ChinaMedia Research, 3(4), 102–109.

China Highlights. (n.d.) Retrieved August 15, 2010 from: <http://www.chinahigh-lights.com/hong-kong/day-trips/feng-shui-seat-in-coach-tour.htm>.

China Studies Travel. (n.d.) Retrieved August 15, 2010 from: <http://www.china-studies.com/feng%20shui%20home.htm>.

Coffey, A., & Atkinson, P. (1996). Making sense of qualitative data: Complementaryresearch strategies. London: Sage Publications.

Cohen, E. (1985). The tourist guide. Annals of Tourism Research, 12(1), 5–29.Crouch, D. (2000). Places around us: Embodied lay geographies in leisure and

tourism. Leisure Studies, 19(2), 63–76.Eitel, E. J. (1873). Feng-shui. Kingston Press.Emmons, C. (1992). Hong Kong’s feng shui: Popular magic in a modem urban

setting. Journal of Popular Culture, 26, 39–49.Feng Shui Artistry. (n.d.) Retrieved August 15, 2010 from: <http://www.fengshu-

iartistry.com/travelogue.html>.Gentzler, M. (1977). Changing china. New York: Praeger Publishers.Gesler, W. (1993). Therapeutic landscapes: Theory and a case study of Epidauros,

Greece. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 11, 171–189.Gotham, K. F. (2007). Authentic New Orleans: Tourism, culture, and race in the Big Easy.

New York: New York University Press.Guo, C. (2006). Tourism and spiritual philosophies of the Orient. In D. Timothy &

D. H. Olsen (Eds.), Tourism, religion and spiritual journeys (pp. 121–138). Oxon:Routledge.

Haldrup, M. (2004). Laid-back mobilities: Second-home holidays in time andspace. Tourism Geographies, 6(4), 434–454.

Han, K. (2001). Traditional Chinese site selection – feng shui: An evolutionary/ecological perspective. Journal of cultural geography, 19(1), 75–96.

Hobson, J. S. P. (1994). Feng shui: Its impacts on the Asian hospitality industry.International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 6(6), 21–26.

Hollinshead, K. (2003). Symbolisms in tourism: Lessons from Bali 2002 – lessonsfrom Australia’s dead hear. Tourism Analysis, 8(2), 267–295.

C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996 995

Hollinshead, K., & Jamal, T. (2001). Delving into discourse: Escavating the inbuiltpower- logic(s) of tourism. Tourism Analysis, 6(1), 61–73.

Holman, C. (2011). Surfying for a Shaman. Annals of Tourism Research, 38(1),10–109.

Hong Kong Tours. (n.d.) Retrieved August 15, 2010 from: <http://partner-net.hktb.com/pnweb/jsp/comm/index.jsp?charset=en&pageContent=/jsp/tpm/tpm_detailList.jsp&topicId=3432>).

Howard Choy. (n.d.) Retrieved August 15, 2010 from: <http://howardchoy.word-press.com/2010/01/07/feng-shui-chinatour-2010/>.

Inglis, D., & Holmes, M. (2003). Highland and other haunts: Ghosts in Scottishtourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 30(1), 50–63.

Jodi Bruner. (n.d.) Retrieved August 15, 2010 from: <http://www.fengshuinet-work.net/jodi/>.

Kahn, M. (1990). Stone faces ancestors: The spatial anchoring of myth in Wamira,Papua New Guinea. Ethnology, 29, 51–66.

Krippendorff, K. (1980). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. London:Sage Publications.

Lai, C. D. (1974). A feng shui model as a location index. Annals of the Association ofAmerican Geographers, 64, 506–513.

Lee, S. H. (1989). Feng-shui: Its context and meaning. Ann Arbor, Michagan:University Microfilms International, Cornell University.

Lefebvre, H. (1991). The production of space. Oxford: Blackwell.Lindstrom, L. (1990). Knowledge and power in a South Pacific society. Washington, DC:

Smithsonian Institution Press.Mak, M. Y., & Ng, S. T. (2005). The art and science of feng shui: A study on

architects’ perception. Building and Environment, 40, 427–434.Marafa, L. M. (2003). Integrating natural and cultural heritage: The advantage of

feng shui landscape resources. International Journal of Heritage Studies, 9(4),307–323.

Neuendorf, K. (2002). The content analysis: Guidebook. London: Sage.Obringer, F. (2005). Fengshui, or the search for a very human dragon. Diogenes,

52(3), 55–63.Osbye, B. M. (2011). Why we can’t talk to you about voodoo. The Southern Literary

Journal, 43(2), 1–11.Rodman, M. C. (1992). Empowering place: Multilocality and multivocality.

American Anthropologist, 94(3), 640–656.Salmond, A. (1982). Theoretical landscapes: On a cross-cultural conception of

knowledge. In D. Parkin (Ed.), Semantic Anthropology (pp. 65–87). London:Academic Press.

Shields, R. (1991). Places on the margin. London: Routledge.Singh, S., & Singh, T. V. (2009). Aesthetic pleasures: Contemplating spiritual

tourism. In J. Tribe (Ed.), Philosophical issues in tourism (pp. 135–153). NewYork: Channel View Publications.

Sofield, T. H. B., & Li, F. M. S. (1998). Tourism development and cultural policiesin China. Annals of Tourism Research, 25(2), 362–392.

Timothy, D. J., & Nyaupane, G. P. (2009). Cultural heritage and tourism in thedevelopment world: A regional perspective. New York: Routledge.

Tuan, Y. (1970). Our treatment of the environment in an ideal and actuality: Ageographer observes man’s effect on nature in China and in the Pagan andChristian West. American Scientist, 58, 244–247.

Tunbridge, J., & Ashworth, G. (1996). Dissonant heritage: The management of the pastas a resource in conflict. Chichester: Wiley.

Walk Hong Kong. (n.d.). Retrieved August 15, 2010 from: <http://www.walk-hongkong.com/guidedwalkshongkong/templeandfengshuitour.html>.

Wearing, S., Stevenson, D., & Young, T. (2010). Tourist cultures, identity, place and thetraveller. London: Sage.

Weber, R. (1990). Basic content analysis (2nd edition). Newbury Park: Sage.Williams, A. (1998). Therapeutic landscape in holistic medicine. Social Science and

Medicine, 46(9), 1193–1203.Winkelman, M. (2000). Shamanism: The neural ecology of consciousness and healing.

Westport: Greenwood Publishing.

996 C. Buzinde et al. / Annals of Tourism Research 39 (2012) 975–996

Wylie, J. (2005). A single day’s walking: Narrating self and landscape on the SouthWest path. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, 30(2),234–247.

Xiao, H. (2006). The discourse of power: Deng Xiaoping and tourism develop-ment in China. Tourism Management, 27, 803–814.

Xiaodong, L. (2002). The aesthetic of the absent: The Chinese conception ofspace. The Journal of Architecture, 7, 87–101.

Yan, H., & Bramwell, B. (2008). Cultural tourism, ceremony and the state in China.Annals of Tourism Research, 35(4), 969–989.

Yoon, H. (2006). The culture of fengshui in Korea: An exploration of East Asian geomancy.London: Lexington Books.

Zhang, H., Chong, K., & Ap, J. (1999). An analysis of tourism policy developmentin modern China. Tourism Management, 20, 471–485.

Submitted 31 May 2011. Final version 11 September 2011. Accepted 11 November 2011.Refereed anonymously. Coordinating Editor: Lee Jolliffe