Topform Health Club at the Regal Shanghai East Asia Hotel jumped on the wagon at the end of last month to provide foot massage to well-paid executives who seek novel options to keep healthy.

At Topform, customers first have their feet soaked for a quarter of an hour in a basin of warm water with a bag of Chinese medicine the club obtains from Longhua Hospital.

Then a skillful masseuse will dry your feet and wrap one in a thick towel to keep it warm while she massages the other.

She applies oil to your foot and rubs it into the skin to minimize friction during the 30-minute massage.

During the massage, the masseuse will recommend that the client drink some tea.

"Massaging facilitates blood circulation and shatters the poisons in your blood. When you take some tea, it helps drive the poisons out of your body through the skin," said Sun Mulan, one of the four masseuses at the club, who was trained at the Longhua Hospital.

Five years of foot massaging experience has given Sun a pair of adept hands that can be silky smooth or explosively powerful. And she can diagnose her client's ailments.

Client Zhang Ye, a computer technician, has been suffering from stiff neck due to the long hours he spends in front of the computer.

"I massaged his big toe, which is the reflective part of the neck, and found it very stiff and hard and I knew his trouble and told him," Sun said.

"I felt my anxiety greatly relieved and my neck less stiff and painful," a smiling Zhang said after the massage.

Sun then suggested Zhang do some exercises in his spare time and take a short break during work. Zhang was also advised to soak his feet in warm water at home and rub his own feet if he could not find time to come to the club.

Peter Hou, club manager said most clients are from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Southeast Asia, but there is an increasing clientele of local Chinese and Westerners.

(Shanghai Star 03/15/2001)