In recent years, hundreds of millions of Chinese people have come out of poverty and hit the middle classes with money to burn. In turn, the growth of luxury five-star resorts is booming. These resorts, however, only cater to a very small percentage of the population (which still equates to millions of people), with the majority of the ‘emerging wealthy’ opting to spend hours in a traditional Chinese spa bathhouse instead.
Most Chinese cities are peppered with brightly lit five-storey buildings with the Chinese characters for spa – ?? (water therapy) – above the door. These authentic bathhouses are a far cry from five-star resort spas and the differences are intrinsic to cultural behaviours. In the west, we like order, peace and quiet, health juices and alone-time in our spas. In the east, we like social interaction, noise, food and stimulation. The west deprives the senses for relaxation; the east bombards them for enjoyment.
Westerners visiting a Chinese spa of this type will be in for a surprise. Enter to be greeted by a gaggle of well-groomed, uniformed hostesses who will charge a nominal entrance fee to spend eight hours at the ??, which will be deducted from any massage treatments you choose.
The first floor will typically be full of groups of entire families clad in bathrobes eating fried noodles at the buffet, drinking tea and smoking in their armchairs while chatting loudly and generally socialising. The second floor might have a variety of wet features – hydrotherapy baths, steamrooms and saunas – as well as steaming teapots, armchairs and the steady hum of chit chat.
The third floor will be crammed with the most comfortable lounge chairs designed for Chinese foot reflexology. And each chair will boast its own individual TV and in some cases its own ashtray.
Floor four could be a mix of massage rooms with one, two or up to five massage tables in each. Some with TV, some without, mostly you will be clothed in the bathrobes or kimonos and the pressure point massage begins. Staff will chat lightly among each other while they take you though the phases of a gruelling tui na pressure point massage only to leave you on cloud nine, not quite sure if your euphoria is because the treatment is over of if you are genuinely feeling the benefits. The fifth floor is a quieter place, somewhere to lie down and sleep, rest and switch off. Strewn throughout the floor are beds, loungers or tatamis in alcoves divided by curtains. The only noise that you are likely to hear is the hypnotic snoring of a distant patron. Spend as much time here as you like (or until your eight-hour pass runs out).
Westerners might expect to see a variety of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatments on the menu such as acupuncture, gua sha and ba guan. However, the Chinese typically leave these to medical doctors and don’t associate them with their spa buildings. In fact, many local TCM medicines use animal parts such as ground deer antlers, which in the west would be considered a far cry from healthy, organic and Zen-like treatments.
As a western operator, you may read the above and think that it’s completely wrong – noise and smoking in the spa? But this is perfectly fine for 1.3 billion Chinese citizens.They go to spa to feel better about themselves inside and out, the end result is much the same as that in the west, just the way that they get there is very different.
