I have debated whether the following story is appropriate material for the Cazzato family blog, especially since I have heard from Aunt Catherine in Columbus OH that she is using our blog to teach her catholic elementary school class about multiculturalism and globalization. This is a story about a brush with the oldest profession on earth, the telling of which I will try to keep clean.
As I have noted previously, I am regular traveler now to the city of Xuzhou, a short plane ride from our home. I am in a routine now of traveling there twice a month for 2 or 3 days at a time. There are three hotels that are on the "recommended" list for Caterpillar visitors to Xuzhou and the Jinyuan Jinling Plaza Hotel is commonly used. All of my Cat colleagues call it the "Power Hotel" because it is owned and run by the state-run power company.
As I have noted previously, I am regular traveler now to the city of Xuzhou, a short plane ride from our home. I am in a routine now of traveling there twice a month for 2 or 3 days at a time. There are three hotels that are on the "recommended" list for Caterpillar visitors to Xuzhou and the Jinyuan Jinling Plaza Hotel is commonly used. All of my Cat colleagues call it the "Power Hotel" because it is owned and run by the state-run power company.
This week I spent Wednesday, Thursday, Friday in Xuzhou and on Thursday, I had a particularly long and busy day. It started at 6AM with a teleconference from the hotel room with colleagues in Brazil and the U.S. I had a full schedule at the plant and again had conference calls with the U.S. at 9:00 and 10:00 PM. As I was riding the hotel elevator to my room at 8:00 with my take-out KFC dinner, I decided that I had earned myself a reward so I scheduled a Chinese massage at 11:15 in the health spa on the 14th floor.
At 11:15, I was emailing some meeting minutes when there was a knock at the door and a young Chinese woman in a short and tight black dress arrived, presumably for my massage appointment. I was expecting to go to the hotel health club for the massage, but you get used to unexpected things in China. Also in China it is wise to clarify the price of any purchase as few prices are fixed. In broken Chinese, I asked the girl "how much ?". She gave me six prices by writing them down in my Franklin Planner - 98, 138, 248, 600, 800, and 1000 RMB. Curiously, the first three prices matched the three options on the hotel spa massage menu, but the second three prices were unlisted. Innocently, I circled the 138 and said "wo you zhe ge" (I want this one). The young woman pouted and circled the 1000 RMB price and then had a few words of English that made it clear she was not a massueuse. I told her "mei you" and "bu hao", Chinese for "don't want" and "no good" - then showed her to the door. With another pout and flip of the hair, she left the room. I gave up on the massage, reflected that I just met my first prostitute, then crawled into bed with a good book.
Twenty minutes later, another knock at the door and another young woman who spoke better English asks if I ordered a massage. I said yes and she came in and sat at the desk. This time I pulled out the hotel directory which had an info page for the health club and asked if she was here for a legitimate massage. Yes, she said that I could have a Chinese massage, oil massage, or hand massage. This is a pretty standard set of Chinese massage options, however, this gal made a demonstrative gesture as she said "hand massage", indicating that my hands would not get much attention. Again as I declined, she delivered a protest, a renewed sales pitch, and a pout. She too left promptly.
Believe it or not, another knock came at 11:45. By now, it was late and I was beginning to feel like Ebenezar Scrooge being paid a visit by the 3rd ghost in a twisted Christmas Carol. The ghost of Christmas future turned out to be a man in a legitimate looking masseuse outfit. I thanked him, but did not let him in the room. Call me sexist, but I do not want a massage from a man.
In typical Chinese fashion, the fourth attempt was finally close to what I requested in the first place. A middle aged woman in a masseuse uniform arrived and said she could provide a legitimate Chinese massage for the legitimate price of 138 RMB (~$15 US). I agreed and she delivered a rather normal, but less than enjoyable Chinese massage. She was a bit too forceful for my taste. Next Chinese lesson, I am going ask Isabel how to say "softer please" and maybe a stronger version of "don't want".
Unfortunately, I have no pictures to go along with this post.
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