Best Massage Ever: Blind Person Massage in Guangzhou

Something I’ve been doing every time I visit Guangzhou is get a massage. Sometimes it’s a foot massage, other times it’s been a full body massage. After flying for over 10 hours in economy class, I need the massage. It also helps that massages are really cheap in Guangzhou and are generally under 100RMB. That’s under $20 CAD. The only problem is distinguishing reputable massage parlours from the unsavory kind. One way to bypass this is to go with a local person. However, if you’re not blessed with family/friends in the city, it’s mostly trial and error. Once, my boyfriend and I decided to wander around and came across a giant “sports complex” with massages. It had huge neon lights and a gentleman in a suit outside. We figured it should be OK and we went in. We booked an one hour foot massage, which is normally a foot soak and massage with a sitting shoulder/back rub. When we got to our private room, our masseuse showed up in a sailor outfit with an extremely short mini skirt. We stayed and we were not offered any extra services but I have a feeling that if my boyfriend was by himself, the services offered may have been slightly different.

For the past few years, I’ve been visiting a blind massage parlour. This was recommended to me by a family friend and I’ve never had issues there. It’s located off a “eating” street filled with restaurants but I would recommend checking out the restaurants AFTER you get the massage. The massage parlour does not have an English name and is definitely a local spot. A vast majority of the staff at the parlour has varying levels of visual impairment although the lady that conducted the flaming suction cup on me could see. The man doing the cupping for my boyfriend on the other hand, could not see. I will say that the massages here are painful and accurate. They can pinpoint the exact area where you’re tight and have knots and they’re not afraid of working on it. After the massage, I am normally loose for at least a month, this is even with my long flight home!

If you are interested in visiting this massage parlour, here’s a couple of things to note. The massages are dry massages and you keep your clothes on. You can take your shoes off. If you’re having cupping done, you will need to take your shirt off at that time. If you are going to be doing cupping, you will bruise. So if you want to show your back/shoulder and you don’t want to show off giant round bruises, you may want to reconsider cupping.

I know it seems silly to provide you with something in writing for a place with visually impaired staff but someone at the location will be able to see and read. The price for a massage is 60 RMB/hour. You can get 2 hours if you want but I’ve always happy with just one hour. I am also including a screenshot of China’s version of Google Maps with the name of the massage parlour as well as a regular map so that you can ask a local or a taxi driver.

Massage = 按摩

1 hour = 1 小时

Harder = 大力

Gentler = 小力

Cupping Therapy = 拔罐