My life in China has been significantly better since the discovery of Dragon Fly’s “Teacher Day Special.” Thanks to this lovely massage parlor down town, I’ve enjoyed many a Monday-night massage. On this day only for teachers, they offer the second hour of massage for free. The first massage is anywhere from ¥150 to ¥550 and up ($22 to $80), depending on the type.
I’ve been getting the regular “Chinese Massage” after my usual hour of foot massage. The Chinese Massage is a typical massage, but they do it over a towel. I have no idea why.
Maybe I was partly motivated to try this because my once intensely sporadic and unpredictable life in Beijing has started to be a little more familiar and comfortable. Part of me definitely didn’t want to leave China without having tried it. Either way, one day, I decided it was time to spring for the Hot Stone Massage.
The description in English for the massage was considerably short and unhelpful, so I really went in knowing nothing except that they’d be using hot stones …to massage me.
Even if you know that you are probably safe, it’s a little hard to relax when heated stones are touching your bare skin. The first time they rubbed the stones on my wrists and left them in my palms I thought, “Am I burning? Is this searing my skin??” It was really hot. Or at least it felt really hot, unnaturally hot. Luckily, it did not actually leave any marks.
After a while, when I was used to the sensation, I really started to enjoy it. It’s similar to getting your first massage, where it feels strange for people who aren’t you or a close friend to be squeezing tight on your muscles, so everything feels to hard. After a few more massages, however, all of a sudden you’re telling them, “Don’t worry. Press as hard as you can!”
(Yes, I had to rework that a few times to get it to not sound dirty.)
Basically the way the hot stone massage works is that they work on each side of both of your limbs and even your back and stomach. They choose one area, cover it in oil, and then rub two stones in concentric circles from the bottom of the area to the top. This felt really good, but for some reason tickled the hell out of my thighs. I guess I’m just not used to concentric circles of hot stone rubbing there. It was everything I could do not to jump up laughing.
Then they did my stomach, which was one of the weirder sensations I’ve ever had. It was also awesomely embarrassing, as my stomach doesn’t need any excuse to make crazy loud sounds, so of course it went crazy while being pushed and pulled with stones.
Overall, the sensation and way that it worked my muscles was amazing, and Hot Stone Massage II is definitely on my Beijing Bucket List!
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