Making it as a masseuse

Making it as a masseuse

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This training centre run by Chinese massage company Huaxia Liangtse might look somewhat less glamorous than the firm’s plush stores, but that has not stopped students from flocking there to learn the art of massage.

The school in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou has taught well over a thousand foot massage trainees, as competitive salaries attract more and more people to the profession.

. ZHENGZHOU, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Wang Feng, a young mother from Henan province, decided to train as a masseuse to help support her family.

This meant separating herself from her two-year-old son, but Wang said she wanted to do it to give her child a better future.

. ZHENGZHOU, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

The massage company Huaxia Liangtse, where Wang got her training, was established 17 years ago in Jinan, capital of China's Shandong province.

It now has over 300 branches in China and has also opened outlets abroad.

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Slideshow

Students sit in front of acupuncture charts as they wait for a training course to begin at the Huaxia Liangtse massage training centre in Zhengzhou.
. ZHENGZHOU, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Students sit in front of acupuncture charts as they wait for a training course to begin at the Huaxia Liangtse massage training centre in Zhengzhou.

A student practices massage on a fellow trainee.
. ZHENGZHOU, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A student practices massage on a fellow trainee.

A student stretches another trainee's back.
. ZHENGZHOU, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

A student stretches another trainee's back.

Wang Feng practices massage on a fellow student.
. ZHENGZHOU, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Wang Feng practices massage on a fellow student.

Wang looks in a mirror as she combs her hair in her dormitory.
. ZHENGZHOU, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Wang looks in a mirror as she combs her hair in her dormitory.

Skincare products belonging to students stand on a windowsill at the massage school.
. ZHENGZHOU, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Skincare products belonging to students stand on a windowsill at the massage school.

Wang eats breakfast next to a foot acupuncture model in her dormitory.
. ZHENGZHOU, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Wang eats breakfast next to a foot acupuncture model in her dormitory.

Wang folds a sheet, as she packs up after finishing her training and being assigned to work at a store in Beijing.
. ZHENGZHOU, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Wang folds a sheet, as she packs up after finishing her training and being assigned to work at a store in Beijing.

Wang and another student watch their teacher, a senior masseur, mark acupoints on a foot during pre-job training at the Huaxia Liangtse Wangjing store in Beijing.
. BEIJING, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Wang and another student watch their teacher, a senior masseur, mark acupoints on a foot during pre-job training at the Huaxia Liangtse Wangjing store in Beijing.

Wang carries a bucket of water through a corridor at the store.
. BEIJING, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Wang carries a bucket of water through a corridor at the store.

She gives a customer a foot massage.
. BEIJING, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

She gives a customer a foot massage.

Wang puts on make-up before work in a massage room, where she was staying temporarily after first arriving in Beijing.
. BEIJING, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee

Wang puts on make-up before work in a massage room, where she was staying temporarily after first arriving in Beijing.

"I was also happy to have made a new friend through covering this story."
Jason Lee, Reuters Photographer

I have to admit that I’m a massage addict. I’m hooked on the magical, relaxing effects that massage has, especially after a tiring day of shooting pictures that leaves many of my muscles sore.

My love for the art and my sense of curiosity brought me to the Chinese city of Zhengzhou to photograph the training centre of a leading massage company – Huaxia Liangtse.

When I first saw the gloomy classrooms and humble dormitories they seemed a long way from Huaxia Liangtse’s luxurious massage stores in Beijing. But the basic conditions did not deter students.

Among the 60 trainees I photographed, my camera was gradually drawn to a young girl named Wang Feng. To be honest, she didn’t stand out among the crowd that much – she was relatively short and always wore a satchel slung over her chest. But careful observation told me that she was a serious learner and a hard worker. We talked a lot, and I was pleased to gain her trust to the point that she stopped feeling nervous in front of my camera.

As a massage addict, I’ve found that masseuses and I have many interests in common: how to have a healthy life; what it is like to work in big cities; and even what sort of unusual people we meet through our jobs.

But the more I know about masseuses, the more I feel sorry for them. That was certainly the case with Wang Feng. I learned that she was the mother of a two-year-old boy, but she had to leave home and be away from her infant child to earn more money to support her family.

I asked Wang how she felt the first time she touched a stranger’s feet, and she said she didn’t feel anything. “I tend to not think too much, my only purpose of doing this is to earn more money for my family and my kid,” she said.

“Although many people do not completely understand this occupation, I don’t want to worry too much about those opinions. I just want to work hard so that my son can have a better future.”

Sometimes, I caught her murmuring to herself during a break, “I miss my son.”

There are many people in China who are still prejudiced against the occupation of a masseuse because they associate it with the sex industry. Wang is from a small city in Henan province, where the culture is traditional and quite closed-minded. I learned that even some of her relatives disapprove of her profession.

In my personal opinion, I think people should have more respect for this workforce of millions of people, mostly women, who often face discrimination.

During my coverage of this story, I joined the students at Huaxia Liangste training centre for a class about the company’s values, which talked up the advantages of being a masseuse.

The trainers told the students that it is a noble career. Firstly, they said, you are like doctors curing the sick; you are improving people’s well-being. Secondly, although this career does not require a diploma, you still have to earn the respect of your customers by perfecting your techniques. Thirdly, as long as you work hard, this company could help you fulfil your dreams, and your salary could reach around 10,000 yuan ($1,634) per month.

A low bar for beginners and a wage that can increase progressively are what attracts more and more young women to train as masseuses all over the nation. That was the case with Wang Feng.

After taking photographs at the training centre, I was lucky enough to witness Wang doing her new job in Beijing, in a glamorous Huaxia Liangste store.

I was also happy to have made a new friend through covering this story. Hopefully, she can be my masseuse from now on. Of course I will need to pay. But I could spend money on anyone – why not a friend?