So one thing that is awesome about China is massages. Imagine the density of tattoo places in PB, and that is about the same as the number of spas near us. One we like has the slogan “Pedicure Preventative Health Palace.” I don’t know if they’ll actually paint your toenails, but they will pound your feet into submission. It’s not a foofoo massage; it’s traditional Chinese reflexology. I think there are so many places because it’s a normal part of staying healthy here. For us, it’s also super cheap—less than ten dollars for an 80-minute foot massage that includes shoulder and back massage as well, while your feet are soaking.
Foot massages are a social event. And they always turn the TV on for us too.
I feel a little exploitative to not only pay so little, but to also be able to show up with a group of ten people at 9:00 at night and for everyone to get massages with no waiting. But that’s the way it works here, so I have had an average of two massages a week. There are several people in our group who have developed illnesses over the last week, and I think I still feel fine because of my foot massage preventative care. Our school doctor recommended massages for the sick teachers as well.
Almost all of the teachers have tried at least one massage, and not everyone has liked it. Because of the way we show up in a large group, the quality does seem to vary a bit. Last week, one of the women got a very sad foot massage from a massage therapist who wouldn’t touch the bottom of her feet. And since we can’t really communicate in Chinese, it’s tricky to address such a thing.
But I have generally loved them! The reflexology is pretty darn painful, as you’ll know if you’ve ever had it done traditionally. But I had read an article mentioning that before we left, so I was ready. It still hurts enough to make my leg twitch, but I feel like I have new feet when I’m done. Some of the others would rather it did not hurt so much. The shoulder and back work also often include a thai-massage style bending you back over the knees sort of thing that not everyone has been comfortable with as well. Luckily, doing acroyoga has uniquely prepared me for enjoying massages here. I’m used to awkward thai massage positions and to being manhandled.
But tonight’s massage stood out! I have an S-curve in my spine from scoliosis, which I manage with yoga, but at this point it’s really not getting better or worse. I usually like to discuss with massage therapists, but here I just figure they’ll notice. Tonight I felt like my therapist made a serious attempt to straighten it out. Wow. There was a lot of pushing my spine side to side. I even started to get a little nervous. But I felt like, if I went back often enough, she could really make some progress on it.
Then there began much discussion among the therapists. Ann was with us and understood enough that she thought they were talking about the hair on my legs and a string. Maybe they were recommending waxing? My therapist was very insistent. She went and got someone who showed us two sticks that looked like a pencil one inch in diameter, maybe made out of stone. She said in English, “hot” and “good.” It seemed not just like an upsell, but important. I said OK, having no idea what I was agreeing to.
After a while, the therapists disappeared and returned with trays with the sticks, which were now burning, not on fire, but glowing hot at the end. They smelled kind of like sage. Maybe we were going to get our legs smudged. Whatever it was, it was going to be Ann and Patti, too, not just me. They said they were up for it. And, when she smelled the burning sticks, Patti realized she was familiar with this type of energy work. They circled the glowing sticks above our knees, down our legs, and back and forth on the bottom of our feet. Sometimes it was close enough to hurt, but not burn. Whenever I flinched, they moved it away. The smoke in our eyes was a bit uncomfortable, but it seemed nice.
When we got home, Patti did a little googling to come up with the name: moxibustion. It is a bundle of mugwort. It is believed to pre-date acupuncture. Some believe it is more effective than acupuncture for moving energy around without it leaking around the needle holes.
That turned out to be a bit of an adventure, and healthy too! I wonder what my next foot massage will bring. I’m sure I’ll need another one in a few days! (I’ve been told it isn’t a good idea to have one every day. Drat.)
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