According to the Chinese Zodiac, the Year of 2009 is the Year of the “earth Ox”.  Today January 26 2009 is the 1st day of the new year- Earth Ox year. The Ox, symbolizes prosperity through endurance.  The typical Ox zodiac person will be a tolerant person with a strong character.   The Ox people work hard without complaints at either  work or at home.  They know that they will succeed through hard work and sustained efforts, and do not believe in get-rich-quick schemes. The Chinese astrologer Y C Sun made a speech at the Silicon Valley Association Realtors morning meeting, he predicted the global recession would be “very severe” in the first six months but said he is optimistic there will be a turnaround by fall 2009 – he sees the economy improving for the better by the end of January 2010.“We will have 10 to 11 months of business contraction, followed by the best expansion,” “We need to exercise a lot, inhale fresh air and prevent excess introspection, he said. It’s important that everyone remain positive, do positive things that will result in success,” Sun said.

The whole family get together to celebrate the new year. The celebration could last for 15 days.People born within these date ranges can be said to have been born in the year of the Ox, while also bearing the following elemental sign:

·     19 February 1901 - 7 February 1902: Metal Ox ·     6 February 1913 - 25 January 1914: Water Ox ·     25 January 1925 - 12 February 1926: Wood Ox ·     11 February 1937 - 30 January 1938: Fire Ox ·     29 January 1949 - 16 February 1950: Earth Ox ·     15 February 1961 - 4 February 1962: Metal Ox ·     3 February 1973 - 22 January 1974: Water Ox ·     20 February 1985 - 8 February 1986: Wood Ox ·     7 February 1997 - 28 January 1998: Fire Ox ·     26 January 2009 - 14 February 2010: Earth Ox ·     2021 - 2022: Metal Ox ·     2033 - 2034: Water Ox  

I received an email last month: Does Chinese believes the stairs way faces to the front door is bad Feng Shui?

1. Let us clear this question. If you stand in front of the front door, you can see cars moving toward to you. Bang! That is bad because the bad qi (un easy energy) could enter to the home directly.

2. When you enter to your home, you saw the stairs to upstairs. Bang! That is bad also!

3. If you enter the front door, you see through a windows or backyard. Bang! That is bad again! The money could flow out. There are remedies for those bangs. We can use the Feng Shui theory to smooth the bad things out.

According the book of Feng Shui by Blinda Henwood. The front door or entrance is an opening from outside to inside. Ideally the front door should face the warmth of the sun. The size door should be proportion to the size of the house.

The goal is to attract the positive qi (energy) to the house:

1. Always keep the front door in good repair.

2. Remove any clutter.

3. Lighting is in good order.

4. Keep a porch light on.

We have immigrants came from everywhere to the Silicon Valley (Santa Clara County, California). It is never too late to learn more real estate knowledge. The below picture is from http://www.geomancy.net/resources/theories/fs-building.htm

Feng Shui and Real Estate Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of placement that creates harmony and prosperity in our lives. The following Feng Shui concept is from “The new life library practical Feng Shui” a book from Richard Craze - A lot of important principles of Feng Shui are based on Taoism, the ancient religion of China. According to Taoist thought, the universe can be divided into two separate areas, matter and spirit, things you can touch and hold, and thing that you cannot. Taoist philosophers called the things that were real – Yin , meaning earth or matter. And things that were ethereal Yang, or heaven.

Chinese means “Feng” means:”Wind” and “Shui” means “Water”. It is a system of arranging our surroundings so that we can live in harmony with them. Sometimes you walk in a house or a business office and you immediately felts good then we said it is in good Feng Shui. Feng Shui practitioners can balance the relationship between the natural and our living space. My clients taught me the beginner of Feng Shui. A little bit by bit I learned more about it and found it is very interesting.

The 1st fundamental rule of Feng Shui is “De Clutter”. You need to make time to clean up your environment : your home, office and your desk. You need pay extra attention to the entrance of your home. Don’t stack up old news papers or mails. Your kitchen needs to be in clean condition such as pots and pans, refrigerator need to be cleaned. The next step is clean up the bedroom that include of bed, closets. Don’t leave the TV set and or computer in the bedroom because it is place to rest. We can use this basic principal to clean up the home to make it easier to sell real estate or create a more comfortable home. Once I could not find my glasses and got very furstrate then I started cleaning up my bedroom and sure enough I found in under the bed. Good Feng Shui does created harmony for you.