I've had more massages than I care to count, the vast majority of them during my year and a half stay in China.
The full-body massages were approximately $5 an hour so I took advantage and had one everyday, sometimes for more than one hour at a time. They were, for the most, done while I was fully clothed, or at the most without my shirt on.
Sometimes, I'd get a blind-man massage, which was interesting to say the least. It is believed that when one loses one of their senses the others become heightened and more refined. In this case, I didn't really notice much of a difference.
During the end of my stay I was coerced to try foot massages. My feet are extremely ticklish, so I was very apprehensive at first but I loved them. They started me off by soaking my feet in what I believed was hot tea. After approximately 10-15 minutes a woman would come and massage my feet and lower legs for about 30 minutes. My feet were then wrapped in hot towels (which felt amazing) and while sitting in a chair my neck and soldiers were rubbed for about 10 minutes.
Now here comes my favourite part. Haircuts cost about $6-7 Canadian (at the time—they would be more expensive now) and I wasn't sure about getting one due to the language barrier. But boy was I glad I went!
First, I was brought to the back and asked to lie down in front of a sink. A girl wet my hair, lathered it with shampoo and then proceeded to massage my scalp for 20 minutes. Absolute heaven!
She then rinsed, shampooed and massaged my scalp again for another 20 minutes. She did this for a third time and then it was time for my haircut!
Following the cut I got a five minute neck and shoulder massage, then brought to the back where my hair was rinsed and mssaged for another 5 minutes.
Needless to say, I got my haircut every 2 weeks, even though the norm for me is every 1.5-2 months!
Ah, I love massages.