Pi Xiu or Tian Lu
The fourth type of shop/factory/outlet that holiday group tourist must visit is one that sells Pi Xiu/Tian Lu. Again, the tour group was told that everyone must enter the shop so that the company can answer to the 'government'.
Geomancer
We visited one pi xiu shop in Taiwan. In the room, the sifu/geomancer will introduce the product and state the difference, the beliefs, etc. The selling point is usually about harmony in the family and the inflow of wealth into one's home. If one is a believer in geomancy or even has one ounce of belief in such practices, he/she will be easily moved to purchase at least one ( a small one, maybe) before he/she leaves the shop. Most of the pi xiu products are made from 'jade' but often than not, the material used is plastic/a kind of greenish stone.
Beliefs
The buyer is told specifically not to mention its price to others. By the time he gets back to Singapore and have it assessed, he will discovered that he had paid 10 times the 'valuation' price!!! Another 'no-no' is not to allow other people to touch your pi xiu, not even your own siblings (my wife's sister who bought one, did not allow her to touch the pi xiu or even look at it during the Taiwan trip) as 'fortune will flow away from you to the other person'. Also one must always bring it (small one) along in a bag and stroke it regularly to be continually blessed with good fortune especially if one is gambling/in a casino/playing mahjong.
To one its own. I am not against any of such beliefs/geomancy, etc. I was only astonished that such ' lessons learnt about the product' and the superstitions eschewed during the tour were so deeply believed by some people that they cloud their judgement. I wonder if such similar things happen to those who visit the pi xiu shops in Singapore.
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