Okay I don’t really know what this place is called.  If you check out the Tunxi Old Street Hotel website you’d get the impression that it’s part of the hotel, but in fact it’s just across the street.

There was no English spoken, but by this point I was getting pretty used to managing my way around a spa or reflexology centre just by pointing and nodding. 

It was pretty empty when I limped across the street the day after my mountain experience.  I was shown into a room for two, with a very relaxing chair and a widescreen TV and my own remote control.  My reflexologist - a very young guy, was quite nervous about treating an English girl, but pulled out his box of different flavour foot soaks.  You choose your treatment by picking a “flavour” - each with different prices written on them.  I chose a Traditional Chinese Medicine soak - a little more expensive than the cheapest 80RMB box, but with a bit of nodding and me miming walking up the mountain and saying “tong” (Mandarin for pain) we agreed that it was the best one for me.

My treatment was very similar to those I’d had before.  To start with the only thing that was different was that rather than a bucket of hot water they actually had sinks on the floor to put your feet in!  First I sat on the footstool, so that I could put my feet in the hot, hot water to soak (gooood), and he could massage my neck and shoulders (really good).  After a few minutes I turned round so I was now sitting in the chair and stretched my legs out on the footstool.

Unfortunately after all the hard walking that I’d done the day before this reflexology session was more like a sports massage - and my muscles were so beaten up that what would have been a relaxing treat was pretty painful.  The word “tong” was used a lot!  When he worked on my feet it was fine, pretty relaxing, but as soon as he started on my shins - man it was hard. 

Because my muscles were so stiff he actually carried on much higher than previous reflexology sessions - even massaging my thighs - but even though this time I was being treated by a young guy by myself in a room it didn’t feel uncomfortable at all - just really, really painful.

When he’d finally finished he left me to relax, enjoy my drink, my TV and have a little snooze.

Although this place was a little bit more threadbare than the other places I’d visited, and a little noisier, it was once again exactly what I needed - a down to earth therapist who wasn’t afraid to try and work out the kinks in my legs, a TV of my own to watch Chinese game shows (which seem to be a lot like French game shows) and my choice of soft drinks (even though they are not included in the price!)