Foot Massages - a regular treat and cheap!
Living in China does have advantages as massages are cheap! Yes, one does need to be aware and make SURE that the massage shop is reputable. However, my colleagues have three or four shops that they regularly visit, here in Jia Ding, a few even have regular visit discount cards at one place.
Foot massages are by far the most popular among my friends and colleagues. Often the first one is a bit painful - the pressure points tend to be quite sensitive when first releasing all that energy. Just think about how much time we spend on our feet and you can understand why they are so sore! (Also we tend to be very lax in our care of those very important appendages!) We also get a very nice (but a little too short) neck and shoulder massage along with the foot massage!!
Often Friday will be a regular trip to the foot massage shop, around the corner to Utopia for a Carlsberg on tap (the little jazz bar - often there are quite a few Chinese who like to speak English here too), then many will head out to a KTV - a karaoke type of music/bar. The final stop (for some of the Americans anyway) is McDonald's!
Back to the foot massage I had last night. First, they bring in a large bucket of water for your feet to soak. OUCH, too hot for just a few seconds! (Amazing how sensitive our feet are!) While your feet are soaking, the masseuse does the neck and shoulder massage. After about 10 minutes, they ask you to turn around and lay down so that they can work on your feet (in Chinese, of course!). The masseuse washes each foot and dries them, wraps the one that they are not working on in a towel, and then begins to massage first one foot and then the other. 70 minutes total, for the 50 yuan massage we received last night, was completed with a final moisturizer massage, final wash and dry. Of course any drinks are extra (and it is expected that you at least buy green tea!). Oh - yes, we actually had certified, male masseuses this time. Last time (when I bought Murray his Secret Santa gift in Zha Bei), we had one male and two females.
Cupping also seems to be popular with some of my colleagues - but that's another story!
Foot massages are by far the most popular among my friends and colleagues. Often the first one is a bit painful - the pressure points tend to be quite sensitive when first releasing all that energy. Just think about how much time we spend on our feet and you can understand why they are so sore! (Also we tend to be very lax in our care of those very important appendages!) We also get a very nice (but a little too short) neck and shoulder massage along with the foot massage!!
Often Friday will be a regular trip to the foot massage shop, around the corner to Utopia for a Carlsberg on tap (the little jazz bar - often there are quite a few Chinese who like to speak English here too), then many will head out to a KTV - a karaoke type of music/bar. The final stop (for some of the Americans anyway) is McDonald's!
Back to the foot massage I had last night. First, they bring in a large bucket of water for your feet to soak. OUCH, too hot for just a few seconds! (Amazing how sensitive our feet are!) While your feet are soaking, the masseuse does the neck and shoulder massage. After about 10 minutes, they ask you to turn around and lay down so that they can work on your feet (in Chinese, of course!). The masseuse washes each foot and dries them, wraps the one that they are not working on in a towel, and then begins to massage first one foot and then the other. 70 minutes total, for the 50 yuan massage we received last night, was completed with a final moisturizer massage, final wash and dry. Of course any drinks are extra (and it is expected that you at least buy green tea!). Oh - yes, we actually had certified, male masseuses this time. Last time (when I bought Murray his Secret Santa gift in Zha Bei), we had one male and two females.
Cupping also seems to be popular with some of my colleagues - but that's another story!
While Oona was home last week I got one of the colds that has been going around. She has been hanging around with acupuncture practitioners in Portland and while being guided by a friend over the phone, she did cupping to my upper back. I had never heard of it before and it was quite interesting. Later that night I had a elevated temp and was very (much more) congested in my head. The next day the cold started thickening and drying up. Who knows?
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