Madam Zhao is one of the best-known fortunetellers in Beijing, as well as one of the few really successful fortunetellers in Beijing. She owns a 4-storey Muslim restaurant in a county of Beijing, lives in a big mansion near the Great Wall, as well as owns a few apartments.I first met her in April 2003, consulting her about changing my job. I was actually quite skeptical in the beginning. However, within the first 5 minutes she simply shocked me by naming a few details in my life--such as how many siblings I had, how many academic degrees I had, the status of my relationship, what happened to me in a specific year... Besides, what she predicted about my new job all came true.
Since then I have brought over 100 friends to her, mostly university professors, politicians, movie stars, doctors, company CEOs and even police officers. Every time we went there, there were tons of people waiting, some from Hong Kong and Singapore. Jacky Chan invites her to Hong Kong regularly. She has also been invited to meet some Wall Street finance advisers in NYC.
I have been told that over 20 years ago, Mme Zhao, a peasant woman then, got very sick one day. She became crazy and started to talk "nonsense." In fact, people found that she had the ability to tell what normal people could not see. She was believed to be possessed by a snake's spirit. Before too long, she moved to Beijing and started her fortunetelling career in a rented apartment room. Later, she moved to a restaurant or a tea house whose owners invited her to work there as she could attract so many clients. When I saw her the third time, she already moved to her own restaurant.
I have also brought 4 foreigners to her, two from Canada, one from Iran and one from Germany. The girl from Germany went to her twice with me in presence, so I could tell if Mme Zhao was accurate about her or not. To my surprise, right from the beginning Mme Zhao told her that she spoke four languages--German, French, English and Chinese, which was absolutely true. She added that her German was the best. We were both amazed, since she was from Germany, and of course her German was the best.
One of the two Canadian guys I brought to her was a wealthy businessman. To his surprise, Mme Zhao told him that he had two children from his previous marriage. She also told a lot of secrets about his marriage and gave him a lot of guidance.Since Mme Zhao, I have met quite a few other fortunetellers. They may not be as famous as she is, or may not be as wealthy as she is, but they are equally or even more amazing. Beijing is truly a place full of crouching tigers and hidden dragons!
