It's All About The People, Man

Evil

I'm blogging via blackberry while having my feet massaged by two moon-faced Chinese maidens. Yes, two. One for each foot.

I was napping at 9pm this evening when the AY woke me to suggest that I shouldn't nap any longer or else I won't be able to sleep through the night. The sky had cleared up significantly after an afternoon downpour, so we decided to head outside to do something... Anything.

The AY brought me to this massage place that I swear was designed to look like brothel-gone-legit. In the décor were hints of past glory – it’s easy to envision local bureaucrats and foreign dignitaries alike getting hand jobs at a place like this… back in the old days. Ah, the old days.

This massage place is huge. We walk in and are immediately greeted by a hostess. There are at least six more staff at the entryway and they each bow as we walk by. The AY says they are trained to bow and that they MUST bow. The hostess leads us down four flights of stairs. The place is well-lit. On each floor are hallways and hallways lined with massage rooms. We walk by dozens of staff. Some are wiping down the walls, while others are just standing at attention in the hallway. Everyone bows when we pass.

The AY gets a 100-minute full body massage administered by a man with scruffy facial hair, but not really what I would consider a beard. Sort of like peach fuzz gone awry. The man is wearing a lab coat. The AY says that the lab coat was implemented only recently, to indicate that the person has undergone a certain level of massage training. She orders me a 100-minute foot massage administered by two young women. The fact that they’re both moon-faced is no coincidence, the AY says; when paired in a team, girls with equivalent looks are selected to work together and then trained for six months so that their hands are synchronized and the pressure they apply is equal.

China is pretty amazing in that there is so much people-power that the country can put to work. Like at this huge massage establishment. (BTW- for the 100-minute full body massage and the 100-minute foot massage by two women, the total cost was $75 US dollars.) Or like the Sichuan restaurant where we had a late lunch – we were the only diners who strolled in at 4:30pm to eat, but we counted 18 staff in the place. Or like at the apartment building where we’re staying – even the elevator has a person working inside of it! She just sits in there the entire day and presses the button for you. She has a small padded chair, a tiny little table, and a wireline phone right inside the elevator. It’s weird.