Steps to Good Health

Feet are not the first things to come to mind when visiting China, but for many people that's just how a China story begins.

Whether an experienced foot fetishist or just an idly curious tourist with sore feet, there's always a foot massage story to add to the adventure of being here and "mmmm..."is usually how it starts.

As a diagnostic tool for health or as a pleasure palliative for relaxation, firm but gentle foot massage is soon part of everyone's routine once they come to China.

Available on every street corner in China, foot massage has been passed down through the generations and is part of a wider, ancient tradition of foot and hand treatments that uses zone therapy. Zones are longitudinal circuits that carry energy from the feet and hands to the brain. In the East, and now increasingly in the West as alternative medicine, medical principles, including acupuncture, use zone therapy.

The aim of all zone therapy, including foot massage, is to restore bodily harmony by restoring energy flows.

Traditional Chinese "reflex" foot massage uses 62 points in the foot that "mirror" important organs and energy points in the body. Gentle but firm massaging helps stimulate blood flow in the foot and correct circulation and is known to boost immunity to illnesses and to protect a body from disease.

Throughout history, reflexive hand and foot treatments have been used in conjunction with acupuncture in China in the treatment of illnesses. Wang Wei, in the 4th century BC, was the first Chinese doctor to use a therapeutic combination of needles and pressure points. According to this principle, as pressure is applied, healing energy is released and balance restored.

 

The Massage

Reclining on an extended lounge chair, feet dangle in a bucket of hot water infused with traditional Chinese medical herbs for a short time before being dried and wrapped in towels.

Foot massage normally takes 40 minutes to complete. Drinking hot liquids, sometimes tea, during the massage is usually recommended.

An oil paste, sometimes aromatic, is applied to the feet. This is done to increase sensitivity and reduce friction. During the massage, pressure applied on the feet will feel healing and corrective, but some can expect it to feel a little painful. If an area on the foot that corresponds to an area of the body has blocked energy it is normal that some discomfort will occur.

Foot masseurs normally follow a specific route and work their ways around a foot to accurately diagnose ailments in the body.

If the body is indeed suffering or under stress, the masseur will find corresponding points in the foot they can easily identify on the body.  This usually takes the form of a hard lump or calcified blockage in the foot which the masseur then works to eliminate.

The overall effect of a foot massage is incredibly relaxing, if a little uncomfortable at times.

Finding a skilled foot masseur is akin to finding a doctor you really trust; diagnoses and treatments require all the care and professionalism of a medical practitioner.

Leaning some massage techniques and applying them to your own feet before bed or early in the morning is a great idea, one you will relish after having your own successful foot massage while in China.

The following places are recommended in and around the city:

Aibosen Blind Massage

Add: Building 11, Area 2

Anzhen Xili, Chaoyang District

Tel: +86 10 6445 2015/6

朝阳区安贞西里2区11号楼

 

Beijing Tai Pan Foot Massage

Add: 1 Xindong Lu

Chaoyang District

朝阳区新东路1号

（渔阳饭店向南路西）

Tel: +86 10 8532 2177

 

Tianhe Liangzi

Add: 2F, Golden Bridge Building

1A, Jianwai Dajie Chaoyang District

朝阳区建外大街甲1号金之桥大厦2层

Tel: +86 10 6507 9285