Apparently singing high notes is universal when getting a massage

We got a Chinese massage the other night in Yichang. What I can say is it was memorable. After 10 minutes in a bubble rolling around on water, which occurred earlier in the day, don’t worry I have photos, I was in desperate need for a little TLC. TLC isn’t exactly what I got, but I did get worked. First off, massage in China can be a gamble. Most parlors we walked past, had scantily clad women in short short skirts with heavy makeup looking utterly bored. Apparently prostitution isn’t too lucrative of a business but it is legal. Street drugs, however, are not and are punishable by death. Our guide, George, searched out a legit massage establishment and was quite excited to embark on this excursion with us. We three girls, Yun, Monique and I and Jason were led to a room in the far back of the building, the rest went to another establishment, legitament as well I was told. They must have strict labour laws stating attendents can’t be taller than 5 feet because we all had to duck due to the ceilings getting smaller and smaller like a Willy Wonka house.

Eventually we were led to a room where 3×3 recline bed/chairs were lined up. There was a tv infront of us (where we watched Beverly Hills Cop 2 in Mandarine/Cantonese which should have been a sign for a non-relaxing massage) and there were stools for the attendents to sit upon. We were stripped only of our shoes and socks and pants rolled up. Our foot soaking included a neck massage. Mine needed it after the whiplashes of falling on my butt over and over in the bubble. I’m sure the somersaults didn’t help either. The neck massage was, let’s just say, quite forceful and strong. Those girls may be small, but they have the grip of lions. This was just a prelude of what was to come. Our feet! Here is where I realized singing a soprano note is translatable into any language as “Holy shit that hurts!” … so is lamaze breathing as well. We have been on our feet alot. ALOT! And the depth these girls were getting to on our feet, let’s just say I think my bones moved. We all tried to cope as best we could. These girls really seemed to know what they were doing so we trusted them with our pain. Each followed the same synchronized pattern so we knew what was going to happen next, which didn’t really make us more prepared for it.

After our feet were thoroughly beaten into submission, came the fuel and fire. Yes fire. A little box at their feet included a glass cup, fuel and a small torch. The torch was dunked into the fuel and lit. By our feet, it was then rolled around in the small jar to absorb the oxygen and then quickly placed on our feet. Fire cupping, is an acupressure technique used to relieve stagnation. And since, through reflexology, the foot is connected to the rest of the body, it’s supposed to relieve things like the common cold, bronchitis and upper respitory issues. Maybe this worked, however for us it was just really cool and finally not painful. Once the attendents got solid suction on our feet, they wrapped them up and let us sit for a few minutes.

When they returned and performed miming to tell us to flip around, we got our backs and legs worked on. The highlight was definitely the reflexology on the feet, but the encore performance was just as memorable. I’ve never had my skin rolled before, and I’m not sure if I want to have it rolled again, but it was something to experience for sure, as is the theme of this post. Skin rolling is taking the skin between one’s fingers and rolling it out in a pinching motion. Doesn’t it sound relaxing?!

So yes the massage was interesting. And since I get alot of the same run of the mill massages it was a really neat experience to have a Chinese massage. Will I seek it out again? I can’t say never, but it won’t be a first option… maybe if I need my feet bones realigned again.

The past few days have also included seeing the terracotta warriors (all except one had been destroyed and reconstructed), the three gorge dam, a cycle along Xi-an city wall (about 14k and very very bumpy), an interlude at a disco club, the Chinese Opera without all the opera, and a 14 hour train trip that flew by, due mostly to helping a young girl, Jessica, read her 7 page speech about China. Which is where we found out “rural” and “billion” are very hard for her to say and funny for us to hear.

Next we head north for some more great adventures, but probably no more massages… but you never know.