Massage & Massage People

Massage is everywhere in Shanghai, in all the hotels and many store-fronts, both mom & pop and chains. All (well, most) are above board and very cheap - an hour-long foot massage runs about $8-10 and is a true luxury. Full massages are more like $20-25.

I have only tried these in the hotels (which seems cleaner and safer, though I might find one of the chains), which have a curious structure. Most massage places are related to a hair or other salon business in the hotel, but these are all independent places, just paying rent and probably a percentage.

The interesting part is that the staff, routinely from poor areas, all live in the salon ! When I go there at 10am, they are usually still sleeping, apparently from many late nights and evening massages. You literally have to wake them up to help you in the middle of the morning. But they seem very skilled, especially at deep foot massages, plus they never speak English, providing an hour of free Mandarin conversation practice.