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How to survive a Hong Kong foot massage (and five places to get one, from cheap to pricey)

They may not all be deluxe spa experiences, but they’re certainly cheerful: we step inside the wonderful, stimulating and aromatic world of Hong Kong foot massages

Reading Time:4 minutes
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Cheap and cheerful seems to be the message this neon sign for foot massages in Hong Kong is conveying. Photo: Alamy

A buzzing neon light broadcasting “Massage For Foot and Body” is as much a warning as it is an advertisement. Yes you’ll get a massage, yes you’ll get a seat, but sometimes a lot more besides.

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Take my recent visit to one such establishment. Anticipating bliss, I don’t immediately notice anything unusual. I don’t see the washing machine squatting against the wall opposite the recliners. I don’t see the half-drunk wine bottles nestling behind a half-full polystyrene takeaway container. I don’t notice the nappies, or infant formula, or towels or bedsheets hanging up to dry on hangers from the ceiling.

It hits me that I may have entered someone’s living room. The manager explains. “This isn’t our home, but I have a child and no one to take care of him in the day, so I have to bring him here,” she says.

The writer receives a foot massage at Sun Yick Massage For Foot and Body. Photo: James Durston.
The writer receives a foot massage at Sun Yick Massage For Foot and Body. Photo: James Durston.
I sit on a recliner and read the massage menu as a plastic washing up bowl of warm water is placed at my feet. I ignore the single chopstick lying in the bottom. I ponder the gelatinous beige square of something floating on the top (portion of dumpling?). OK it’s not deluxe, but did you see the forearms on madam? She’s been wringing the hell out of sore feet for decades. This will be great.
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