So I’d stalled as long as I could, but finally decided that I needed a haircut. We went walking into town to try and scope a few places out and ended up deciding on one that looked a little fancy. I attempted to explain that all I wanted was a simple haircut by making scissor motions at my hair. They young lady I was gesturing at nodded like she understood and lead me to a side area where there were padded tables to lie down on and place your head in the sink.
What then followed was a vigourous shampoo and massage. Forhead, scalp, neck and ears were cleaned and rinsed. To give my hair time to dry she tend proceded to do a full upper body massage. She started at my head, then worked down to my neck, followed by my shoulders and upper back. Then she worked on my left arm, hand, palm, and each finger. She repeated the process for my right arm, then had me turn over and worked on my lower back. By the time this was all done my hair was dry.
So then I was lead to the actual haircut station where a young gentleman proceeded to cut my hair. I did my best to explain what I want, and he seemed to understand. As a side note, only the men cut hair. Men cut hair and women wash hair. We don’t know why this is, but it seems to be the standard. Which leads into the third part of the haircut, the after haircut shampoo. Yes after the hair has been cut they wash your hair again to get out all the loose cut hair. Then you go back to your barber who gets your hair looking all nice so you’re ready to go.
The total cost for one upper body massage, haircut, and two shampoos was 25 Quai/Yuan. This comes out to just under four dollars in American money. I believe I shall be having haircuts more often.