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These days, feng shui seems destined for furniture arrangement. But the practice of achieving harmony has had much grander purposes over history including the lay out of Chinese villages, burial site design and construction of agriculture plots. Chinese Kings used feng shui to build palaces in a way that reiterated their power and wealth.
Recently, an LA McDonald's redid its décor to reflect the feng shui philosophy of wind-water. It has a wooden ceiling, waterfalls and a door that doesn't align, so as to confuse the evil spirits. The switch came when the franchise owner noticed that the population in the area had risen to 40% Asian.
He also says there's nothing ironic about a McDonald's being feng shui. Maybe not, considering the materialistic journey feng shui has taken anyway. But surely there's some irony in the melding of positive spiritual energy (Qi) with the kind of meat that brings down rainforests and fattens up the country.
Feng Shui has been considered taboo in the PRC for some time now. So what does it mean that McDonald's is feng shuing itself? Is McDonald's confirming its food feudalship over the world? Saying “screw you” to Communism? Probably nothing so profound. Just a pretty little waterfall to go with some addictively bad-for-you food.
Source: NPR and Indobase.com
Photo by: Richard Harbaugh (NPR article)
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