Since injuring my leg last week in Zhuhai, to keep the wound and bandaging dry per doctors' orders I have altered my body-cleaning methods. A high concentration of hair salons offering inexpensive "head washes" near Zhuhai's border with Macau has helped. A head wash which includes a head massage and often a shoulder & arm massage as well typically costs about U.S. $2.50 to $3.30 and lasts about 15-30 minutes. To make the most out of these difficult times, I have made the sacrifice of visiting multiple establishments to compare them, though evaluations are complicated by usual large variations of workers' skills within a single establishment.
Today I tried yet another salon. The experience reminded me of many others in China in terms of the persistent and sometimes blunt sales pitch for other services and pricier options. For enlightenment, here is a key part of the conversation I had with the hair washer, translated into English, which followed several attempts to convince me of the glories of a cleaner face:
She kept on trying until I stopped replying to her comments. After that, all was good and my hair was soon clean. As usual, at the end they seemed rather amused I didn't want my hair blowdried.
Today I tried yet another salon. The experience reminded me of many others in China in terms of the persistent and sometimes blunt sales pitch for other services and pricier options. For enlightenment, here is a key part of the conversation I had with the hair washer, translated into English, which followed several attempts to convince me of the glories of a cleaner face:
Would you like a facial?I will admit I was surprised. Other salons here didn't offer shaving.
No thanks.
Your beard is rough! How about a shave?
No thanks.
It's ugly.
Thank you.
She kept on trying until I stopped replying to her comments. After that, all was good and my hair was soon clean. As usual, at the end they seemed rather amused I didn't want my hair blowdried.