HONG KONG -- The feng shui lecturer at the Barnes & Noble was talking about "clearing your clutter." It didn't sound very Chinese. "Clutter is fear," she said, flashing a winning New-Age smile. "Shed your clutter and you will lose weight and attract romance and money."

To Americans, the Chinese brand of feng shui may seem too absolute, she concluded. No matter. Take the feng shui principles you like and discard the rest. But travel to the old country-as I recently did-and you'll find a much stricter incarnation of feng shui.

One Hong Kong family neglected to bury their patriarch according to feng shui principles, for example. "Immediately, all males in family have terrible terrible headaches that never stop," said geomancer (master of the art) Joseph Chau. "Three even develop brain cancer."

To the Chinese, feng shui is an absolute truth that hasn't changed in 4,000 years. Once the patriarch was re-buried in the right direction, Chau said, the cerebral problems cleared up completely.

Feng shui, of course, is the ancient Chinese art of placing objects in a room, a house, or even in a neighborhood or a country. If you do it correctly, the Chinese believe, you will attract happiness, good health, and even great riches. And if you're looking for the roots of this fascinating philosophy, Hong Kong is the place. Mainland China outlawed feng shui after the revolution 50 years ago, driving most of the great geomancers across the border into Hong Kong. Today, 90% of Hong Kong Chinese are believers and there are 10,000 feng shui teachers, according to Chau.

An Uncanny Reading

My first stop on my feng shui quest was the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Although it's one of the most exclusive hotels in Hong Kong, that isn't enough to make it popular with the Chinese. What's really important is that it adheres closely to feng shui principles. In the lobby sits a small statue of a unicorn that chases away bad Ch'i, or life force. Single-horn lion statues have been placed in the offices of many of the hotel's corporate officers to catch money, and the placement of office furniture has been closely supervised, even down to the placement of in boxes.

Although it may seem unusual to Westerners, the care that the Mandarin Oriental has taken makes both employees and guests of the hotel more comfortable. The Mandarin Oriental's feng shui geomancer is Joseph Chau, half of whose clients are corporate and the remainder of whom are individuals.

In Chau's small office in Wan Chai, individual clients stop in for consultations. Chau heals what ails you. By gathering some basic feng shui information -- my birthday, the floor design of my apartment, my orientation to true north, and the like -- Chau determines that I suffer from back pain, allergies, and a bad temper. "And I know that sometimes, you wake up startled in middle of night," he said.

That sent chills down my spine. In fact, I often experience unnerving sleep disturbances. His Rx: I should place jade statuettes in two corners of my room and a brass icon. I should place a light stand in the center of my living room that holds nine bulbs. And make sure that the kitchen faucet doesn't point towards the stove, because when fire and water meet, my temper will flare.

For Westerners who wish to learn feng shui, Chau offers individual courses for $5,000, with group rates available. Money plays a key role in Hong Kong's feng shui. Every bank in Hong Kong, for example, places a pair of lion statues in front of it. Why? To guard the money, of course. Without such feline security guards, the locals won't risk depositing their money.

Corporations spend vast amounts of energy and money to ensure good feng shui. In 1985, the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank hired a geomancer for the opening of its new headquarters building. He chose the most auspicious date for the building's opening, and then ensured that on that day, the two bronze lions were lifted into place by crane simultaneously-in order not to give one precedence over the other-and lowered carefully into the most auspicious feng shui spot. Today, hundreds of passersby every day like to rub the lions' paws for good fortune.

Feng Shui Tours

Recently, the Hong Kong Tourist Association began offering feng shui tours, a kind of spiritual lens through which to discover this astounding city. As the tour bus climbs to world-famous Victoria Peak, for example, the tour bus stops to view a handsome skyscraper called The Hopewell Center. "When building originally built," the tour guide explained, "the Chinese alarmed because tall white office building look like white candle, which mean death." To counteract the building's bad Ch'i , the architect was instructed to build a pool on the roof. Water snuffs out fire, counteracting the bad Ch'i .

On the other side of the island, in beautiful Repulse Bay, the tour bus passes a turquoise building that has a huge square hole in the middle. "This is because building built so close to mountain," said the tour guide, "which is where dragons reside. On other side of building is ocean, and if dragons not allow to drink, that not good."

Even the rich and powerful often follow feng shui. One powerful family recently spent $100,000 on feng shui for their new $25 million home overlooking Repulse Bay. The geomancer supervised thousands of details in the building of the home, down to the color and species of fish in the pond. He even declared a date beyond which no art could be hung on the walls. Since no artwork had yet been bought and the cutoff date was looming, the residents had to resort to a loophole: They inserted nails where the art would be hung, technically hanging the artwork although no art had yet been bought.

In this superstitious city-state, feng shui is everywhere. It affects high finance and everyday banking habits, grand architecture and interior design, even the date one chooses to buy a new car, get married, or bury a relative. All the numbers in your life have significance-your address, your driver's license, even your social security number. Many businesses with auspicious addresses proudly display it with shiny bronze numbers on the front of their buildings, especially those containing the number 8, which is financially auspicious.

Coming back to California, one feels like an unbeliever. Some of the advice we were given seems patently ridiculous. My photographer, Patricia Lanza, was told that she should wear a pig necklace around her neck because she was born in the year of the tiger. "Tigers and pigs get along," the geomancer said. Pat and I looked at each other, incredulous, stifling a bellylaugh. "I thought tigers ate pigs," Pat said. But no, he informs us: Tigers somehow aren't drawn to pork and porklike products.

Still, after I finished snickering, I did make changes in my apartment's interior design. And when my new 888 number arrived, I was happy and smiling. There's nothing like a little good Ch'i to brighten one's day.