Surveys indicate that up to half of Hong Kong's population retains some faith in traditional Chinese customs, luck or the practice of feng shui. "People are loath to give up their traditional beliefs, and I don't see them dying out in the near future," said Janet Lee Scott, an anthropologist at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Feng shui masters have been leery of assigning too much significance to the damage to the Wishing Tree, and they caution that throwing wishes into trees may have more to do with local superstitions than feng shui.
The tree's placement near the 7m-tall village gate here is felicitous, but the poor health of the tree now prevents the benefits from being realized, said Master Sherman Tai, a feng shui master who advises many clients in Hong Kong and North America.
"This is not a good feng shui tree anymore - they need to stop all this activity and trim the tree," removing or healing diseased limbs, Tai said.
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