Often in Hong Kong, shoes are kept either in cabinets right outside a home or next to the front door. Rather than wearing shoes in the home, slippers or even bare feet are preferred.

While there is obviously a hygiene element to the decision to keep shoes out of a living space, it is also believed that shoes pick up energy or chi from places you visit. If you have visited places with intense spiritual or emotional energy, such as hospitals, temples or law courts, then negative energy associated with sorrow, disputes and worry may linger on your footwear. Leaving your shoes at the front door as you enter will ensure that any external chi that you may have come across on your travels will be limited to a certain area of your home.

There are fung shui masters who stipulate that shoe cabinets should not be above waist level. This is not necessarily true for modern living. What is more important is that the shoe cabinet is proportional to the size of the room it stands in, and the home itself. Having a shoe cabinet that covers the entire height and breadth of your entrance hall is not recommended as it will overwhelm the entrance.