Supermoon over Beijing

Supermoon over Beijing

Shenzen - 30 years before and after

Shenzen - 30 years before and after

Hurricane drinks in N'Awlins!

Bourbon Street is the only place I know in the US where people can walk around with their drinks openly on the streets. Famous for serving their Hurricanes cocktails, a friend was knocked out once from drinking that strong concoction. It will #@!&% the *&#@! out of you!

Bourbon Street in the French Quarter

Bourbon Street in the French Quarter, New Orleans. Lots of southern charm and fun things to do! The best shrimp gumbo I had was in a dumpy little take out on a street corner.

The Voodoo Museum in New Orleans

Have you been to the famous Voodoo Museum in New Orleans or N'Awlins? They show you the different religions of Voodoo and will also give you cemetery tours and show you sights of hauntings. It's fun to learn and cool to see. www.voodoomuseum.com

Kara seeks a powerful voodoo priestess in The Beijing Ghosts

Desperate to vanquish blood-thirsty ghosts in The Beijing Ghosts, Kara Chan seeks a powerful voodoo priestess - Clarice Delphine Beaulieu. She is a direct descendent of Marie Laveau, the renowned 'Voodoo Queen' that brought the mysticism of voodoo from Santo Domingo to the sleepy backwaters of N'Awlins back in the 19th century.

Orbs in old casino saloon for outlaws

Two years ago, a broker in Nevada contacted me regarding an old casino saloon he had listed for sale. It was about 100+ miles north of Las Vegas. The old casino had a long history of seedy gamblers, outlaws and people of ill repute who di...dn't want the watchful eye of the Strip before it was finally cleaned up by the Nevada gaming regulation. I asked him to send me some photos. In practically every room, there were orbs floating everywhere. Some paranormal experts suggest that the orbs are spirits. Maybe they were criminals who died unwillingly. (Photo - orbs over a cemetery in Indiana)

Real ghost story #2 - old commercial building

Happy Friday! Here's another ghost story to start the weekend. Last year, I met an owner of an old commercial building on Pine Ave. in Long Beach that has since been renovated for popular restaurants and retail stores. We went to an empty banquet room on the second floor to discuss selling the building. Five minutes after we sat down, a window on the top ledge about 15 feet above us began opening and slamming by itself a few times. We both stared at the window in silence and bewilderment since there was no wind. It was bizarre. He said, "And this building comes with a ghost." I suddenly got this ill feeling that the ghost didn't want me there. Sometimes ghosts will try to scare realtors and it's better that they appear in the first meeting rather than after the listing agreement is signed. I never went back since I didn't know how far that ghost would have gone to make sure there are no new owners. (Photo - Pine Ave., Long Beach in 1928)

My scariest ghostly experience as a realtor

My scariest experience as a realtor happened two years ago when I was hosting an open house in an old two-story estate in Hollywood Hills with a fellow realtor. Around 4pm, we closed down. I was in the kitchen cleaning and heard slow heavy footsteps up and down the wooden stairwell. Thinking it was my colleague but a bit doubtful since she's thin and medium height. I ignored it. After I was done cleaning, I walked towards the front of the house and happened to peer out the window and there was my colleague standing outside rearranging her car, where she had been all along. So who was walking up/down the stairwell? I turned to look and there was no one! (

 

Photo credit: occultopedia.com)

Three bedrooms, two baths and a ghost

I was inspired to write The Beijing Ghosts from my own personal experiences as a realtor with the paranormal. According to the National Association of Realtors, every realtor has had at least one encounter to the unexplainable. Here are two real ghost stories.

Here is an article with true ghosts stories involving realtors:

http://realtormag.realtor.org/sales-and-marketing/selling/article/2006/10/ghost-stories

Nu Gui 女鬼 - Female ghost out for revenge

Nu Gui 女鬼 - Female ghost often in long white dress and long hair. Woman who commits suicide returns as a ghost in red dress to take revenge on the living. Some ancient folk tales tell stories of beautiful female ghosts appearing like a woman, seducing lecherous men then killing them for their blood or for revenge.

Jiang Shi 僵尸 - A Chinese vampire

Jiang Shi 僵尸 - A Chinese vampire which feeds on the blood of the living. Often seen wearing Qing Dynasty official costume, its corpse-body was so stiff that it had to hop to move around. It could be immobilized by pasting a Taoist talisman on its forehead. When we were kids, my brother and I watched many movies with jiang shi hopping around looking for prey. At night, we would hold out our arms and hop around to scare each other.

Check out my blog with a whole new section on The Real Housewives of Beijing

 

 

www.thebeijingfamily.blogspot.com  

Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival

In the US, we have Halloween. In China and many parts of Asia, they have Chinese Hungry Ghost festival. Originated from the Liang Dynasty (502-557 A.D.), it is not only a day for getting rid of ghosts, but also a day for commemorating ancestors. It falls on the 15 of the seventh month according to Chinese lunar calendar. Parades, floating river lights, temple fair, food and celebrations are commonly seen.

Huli Jing are fox spirts or demons

When my mother was a little, her and her family were escaping the invasion of Japanese soldiers in Nanjing. En route, they found refuge in an abandoned old Chinese courtyard home where strange paranormal events began occurring. Frustrated, my Uncle raised his fist and cursed loudly at the house, "Damn you huli jing!" According to Chinese folklore, huli jing are fox spirits or demons that cause mischief or seduce humans. The next morning, they found all the dishes shattered onto the kitchen floor into a million angry pieces and rice splashed all over.

Yummy gooey Zhong Zhi or Chinese tamales for Dragon Boat Festival

For Duanwu Jie or Dragon Boat Festival, my mom has been giving yummy gooey zhong zhi or Chinese tamales to her friends. I gave some to my neighbors. I'm trying to stick to a low carb diet so I will enjoy it vicariously through them.

Happy Dragon Boat Festival!

http://www.theworldofchinese.com/2013/06/happy-dragon-boat-festival/

Kara gets a tea leaf reading in The Beijing Ghosts. You can learn to read leaves

In Chapter 11 of The Beijing Ghosts, Kara consults Grandma Moh for a tea leaf reading where she initially learns the dark secrets of the haunted mansion and its past.

You can learn how to read tea leaves: http://healing.about.com/od/tealeafreading/ht/readtealeaves.htm

Stephen King almost threw away the manuscript for "Carrie"

In the 70's, Stephen King worked as a janitor at a local high school. While cleaning the girls' bathroom and refilling the tampon dispenser, he got an image of a group of mean cheerleaders throwing tampons at a young feeble girl unable to defend herself. He was inspired to write 'Carrie'.  Unable to relate to young teen females, he had difficulty developing the Carrie White social outcast character and wrote and threw away the manuscript three times. His wife found it in the trash, read it and encouraged him to finish it. She said, "I think you've got something here." She helped him develop the Carrie White character and the rest is history.

I read alot of Stephen King when I was writing The Beijing Ghosts

I read a lot of Stephen King when I was writing The Beijing Ghosts. One of my favorite authors, Stephen King turns the most average people, objects and events into complete utter horror. Here is young boy Danny with psychic abilities passing by Room 237 while riding around the vacant hotel......the room that the caretaker warned him to stay away from in the movie, 'The Shining'.

How to say Ghost in Mandarin.....

Guǐ...sounds like the word 'grey' without the 'r"

Remaining fragments of Old Peking

The remaining fragments of Old Peking are very cramped. The city planners are tearing down large sections of the old city, to make way for modern apartment houses.

When Beijing was once called Peking....

Mysterious visitors from Old Peking...

About 30 mins. before Kara closes down the private viewing of the mansion, 4 mysterious Chinese guests arrive and say they are from "Peking" and "know the owners of the house".....How odd, Beijing was once called Peking....but that was in the early 1900's and the owners have died over two decades ago......WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??

Luxury homes and private viewings

Luxury homes of $15M + price range hold 'private viewings' and not open houses where it's by invitation or appointment to assure the privacy and security of the property and owners who are often celebrities, athletes and moguls. Mostly sold... through private listings, word of mouth, who's-who and rarely in the mass market. Private viewings often have catered food, bar, entertainment, live music and poetry readings. In The Beijing Ghosts, Kara hosts a private viewing of the haunted mansion in Chapter 5.

Aquanetta is a crucial companion and comic relief in The Beijing Ghosts

Aquanetta Kadeja Jackson, older sister of Tayshawn who is sassy, feisty and intolerant of BS. She plays a crucial companion to Kara and comic relief in The Beijing Ghosts, especially when the ghostly activities in the haunted mansion gets crazy. I was thinking of Whoopi Goldberg in the movie, "Ghosts" when I was developing her character.

Misty is like Emma Stone in The Beijing Ghosts

Misty, the bubbly red-headed assistant to Kara Chan in her company, KC Real Estate Inc. She helps Kara prepare an open house of the haunted mansion. Always perky, she speaks with the colloquial "Valley Girl" verbalism, wears flashy clothe...s and sports even more colorful long painted fingernails. More intelligent that her outward appearance portrays, she understands office Mandarin and has working knowledge of the Chinese culture. Although the famous actress Emma Stone isn't the typical "valley girl" type, I imagined Misty looking a bit like her when I was developing her character.

Once inside the dark mansion....The Beijing Ghosts

Kara stands inside the main entrance and looks around the house that no person has visited for over twenty years. With dark heavy drapery covering every window, the room is dark with a stale mustiness. The room feels like a sedating long droll slumbering for over a century. She sees the light switch on the left wall and turns it on. The lights flicker on and off for a few seconds and then it dies. Kara contends with the light switch and turns it on and off again; the electricity dies and the room decides to remain dark.

Kara Chan hears faint whispers in the old mansion in The Beijing Ghosts

As night sets upon the house, Kara hears faint whispers. She looks around and asks, "Who is there?......err....is anyone here?"

In The Beijing Ghosts, Kara Chan gets a new real estate listing that is haunted

In The Beijing Ghosts, Kara Chan gets a new real estate listing on a ten bedroom estate far up in the hills behind Bel Air next to Hollywood Hills. Owners died over twenty years ago and no one has set foot on the mansion since then. With only a flashlight in her hand, she drives to the estate by herself during sunset to find the dilapidated mansion engulfed in towering weeds like a jungle.

My inspiration for writing The Beijing Ghosts came from real ghostly encounters

I was inspired to write The Beijing Ghosts from being a realtor and encountering strange and unexplainable incidents in working with older homes and commercial dwellings. Nothing shocking, but enough to make me pause. The haunted estate I depicted in the book is of a Greek revival design like the one below with ten bedrooms + ten bathrooms over a spacious yard.

The Beijing Ghosts book description

The Beijing Ghosts is Book 3 of the Beijing Family book series and will delight your ghoulish fantasies with suspense, drama and entertainment!  In this new saga, Kara Chan gains a new real estate listing of an old mansion estate high up in the desolate hills of Bel Air of greater Los Angeles.  The owners are deceased for over twenty years; no one has set foot in the home and strange unexplainable incidents begin occurring.  On the day of her open house, four mysterious guests arrive from old Peking, or the name called for the city of Beijing during the early 1900’s and appears to have stepped right out of that era and not a day older.  Nothing is quite as it appears as Kara soon discovers the links the four guests have to the former owners and their lucratively successful and yet dark secretive businesses they carried on in the mansion mired in illicit and sordid pasts.  One in particular is a tall sultry Chinese lady wearing a red Chinese qi pao dress with a Mandarin collar and dark green jade earrings who sternly warns Kara about the unspeakable events of the mansion.  As dark shadows cast upon the house, Kara battles unrelenting ghosts and a blood-thirsty Chinese female poltergeist with powerful aid from Chinese feng shui and a renowned Voodoo priestess from New Orleans. 

Do you like ghost stories? The Beijing Ghosts released today on Amazon!

Do you like ghosts stories?  Today, I released The Beijing Ghosts or Book 3 of the Beijing Family book series on Amazon today.

Here is the link:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Beijing-Ghosts-Family-ebook/dp/B00CNW93VU/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1370275317&sr=8-1

It's never boring....