So much more than shampoo

One thing my friends, (as well as Chinese folks in general) like to do is get the occasional hair wash. You go to a hair place - they have hair places and they have nail places and spas, and ne'er the two (three) shall meet - and into the "hair wash room" (I don't know what they call it it Chinese!). The hair wash room is a room off the regular beauty salon full of vinyl-coated cots attached to sinks. You lie down on a vinyl cot with your head on a base over the sink. They usually start with a little head massage first. Then, they work in some nice-smelling shampoo while giving you a scalp and head massage. This lasts for maybe 8 minutes, then they rinse you and shampoo again, with the scalp massage. After they rinse you a second time, they work in some conditioning oils, depending on your hair's needs (although most are really clueless as to the needs of Western hair - another blog post entirely!). After massaging in the oils, they let them soak into your hair. During this time you receive a really nice neck massage, then they work down your back. (There is usually a towel and a sheet of plastic inside the back of your shirt to protect it.) This part lasts another 10 - 15 minutes. Then they rinse you again. Sometimes they'll clean out your ears during this time (I know - wierd, huh? They really dig in with the cotton swabs to a scary depth. I don't do that anymore). Sometimes they'll offer you a face wash as well. Since I normally wear makeup ("normally" meaning Always, except for bed) I have never gotten one, but some friends have gotten little mini-facials while at hair washes. My friends have really enjoyed this as it adds to the whole relaxing-clean thing. They rinse you again and wrap your hair in a towel, really tight. Then you lie down on the cot part without the sink. They massage your shoulders, arms and hands. Some places massage your legs but that always hurts me so I have them stop (Westerners are notorious wimps). Then they turn you over, face down, and really work your back. The whole massaging, cleansing process lasts from 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, depending on the place and on the person working on you. It's incredibly relaxing. Then they take you to the "beauty salon" part to blow-dry and style your hair. Again, they're pretty clueless about Western hair so my very straight hair usually gets "straightened" some more to the point that I could probably use it as a weapon. But it looks nice, clean and shiny. I have some friends who don't even bother to do their hair anymore, they just go to the hair wash place and have somebody else do it a few times a week.

This whole thing generally costs 25 rmb, though if you get a snappy new haircut like Tim did yesterday, it costs about 40 rmb. Please take note that with the exchange rate of 7:1 US$, that's about three bucks for a hair wash, maybe just a little more. It's a pretty sweet deal. Unless your hair gets stuck in the hair dryer like mine did yesterday - it's still a sweet deal but that was a bummer.
Another bummer is that the hair wash guys and gals make (so I've heard) about 3 rmb per hour. The above exchange rate can put that into perspective for you. We wimpy Westerners always try to make up for this with a generous tip of 5 - 10 rmb, which is really a lot of money to the hair wash folks. Everybody ends up happy and beautiful!