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So, I was in Futian, Shenzhen, right? My back was killing me after all that walking around and sitting in meetings. Figured a massage might sort me out. It’s Shenzhen, these places are everywhere. I wasn’t looking for anything fancy, just something to get the knots out.
I just walked around for a bit. You see a dozen of these massage spots in any given block. Some look a bit dodgy, others try too hard to look like a high-end spa. I picked one that seemed, well, normal enough. Clean-ish front, prices listed, nothing too wild. Went in.
My Futian Massage Run-through
The reception lady, she was busy on her phone, barely looked up. Standard. Pointed at a menu on the wall. All in Chinese, obviously, but they had some pictures and basic English translations if you squinted hard enough. I just went for a “full body” thing, the 90-minute option. Can’t go too wrong with that, or so I thought.
Paid first. Always pay first in these places, seems to be the rule. Then this guy, not very talkative, led me to a small room. Dim lights, a bed, a little table. Basic. Smelled faintly of that generic massage oil. He mumbled something, left me to get unchanged. Standard procedure again.
The massage itself? Well, it was a massage. The guy who came in, different from the one who showed me the room, he had strong hands, I’ll give him that. Started off a bit like he was trying to tenderize a steak. Way too hard. I had to sort of yelp and gesture to get him to ease up. He grunted, and then it was a bit better. Some parts were good, like he knew where the tension was. Other parts, felt like he was just going through the motions. You know, like a checklist. Shoulders, check. Back, check. Legs, check.
There was some noise from the hallway too. People talking loudly, doors slamming. Not exactly a Zen experience, but what do you expect for the price in a busy part of Futian? It wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t amazing. It was just… a massage. Did its job, mostly. My back felt a bit looser afterwards. Still a bit sore from the initial pummelling, though.
When it was over, he just tapped my shoulder, mumbled again, and left. Got dressed, a bit oily, and walked out. The lady at the reception was still on her phone. Didn’t even look up when I left. And that was it. Another day, another quick fix in a big city. These places, they’re all pretty much the same, you know? You go in, you get something done, you leave. No fuss, no frills, and definitely no deep conversations.