It was a slow evening in Suzhou and my parents and brother all decided to go to sleep early. I decided to explore the town at night, and began walking alongside darkened canals, ending up in a deserted area near a temple that seemed to be a commercial area but was empty at such a late hour. Then a man driving a kind of small cart, came up and offered to take me to a massage parlor. I knew from the outset this was sketchy, and indeed there was no subtlety in his promising me, "xiaojie" or prostitutes. I told him I only had 28RMB on me, and only wanted a foot massage. He assured me I could get this there if that was all I wanted.
I decided to hop onboard, if not out of boredom, perhaps out of curiosity. He took me all around town, and I reasoned that even if I didn't end up getting a massage I would have at least been taken on a 2 kuai tour of Suzhou at night, in a cart mind you.
Upon arrival at the establishment, I wasn't reassured about the legitimacy of the promised foot massage parlour. I knew these women were probably prostitutes but I still held out hope that I might be able to get a massage. I was seated in a private room, cheaply decorated with trashy fake leather, a flat screen TV, and a bowl of fruit sitting miserably on a plexiglass table, echoing of those Dutch still life paintings which also seemed to suggest the wasted fruits of a debauched lifestyle.
Five minutes into conversation with so-called masseuse (who claimed to be attending Suzhou University) over some room temperature watermelon, I was offered a beer. I asked how much for one bottle, and was told 30 RMB, 2 RMB more than I had on me. I told the girl, she went outside, and a few moments later a portly Chinese man entered, whom I could only assume was the pimp.
He seemed to suggest to me that I hand over the money I had, and I said I only had 20 RMB and just wanted a massage. I offered to leave immediately, and told him I had only been in the room for five minutes and had consumed all but one slice of an overripe watermelon. He seemed to want to inspect my person for hidden money, but finally he agreed to take the 20 kuai and even offered me to keep the rest for my taxi ride home. What a generous pimp he was.
So I left, having been too cheap to afford a massage or a prostitute...and thinking that the story I had was worth the 20 RMB I had spent for watermelon and five minutes of a prostitutes time. I ended up handing over the 8 kuai to the same man who had brought me here. On the ride home, he kept telling me to come back tomorrow, "you can have sex for only 100 RMB, bring your brother!" I decided that I had seen enough of the dirty underside of China's rapid economic development, and politely refused.
I fell asleep bemused, thinking Larry David would be very proud of me indeed.
I decided to hop onboard, if not out of boredom, perhaps out of curiosity. He took me all around town, and I reasoned that even if I didn't end up getting a massage I would have at least been taken on a 2 kuai tour of Suzhou at night, in a cart mind you.
Upon arrival at the establishment, I wasn't reassured about the legitimacy of the promised foot massage parlour. I knew these women were probably prostitutes but I still held out hope that I might be able to get a massage. I was seated in a private room, cheaply decorated with trashy fake leather, a flat screen TV, and a bowl of fruit sitting miserably on a plexiglass table, echoing of those Dutch still life paintings which also seemed to suggest the wasted fruits of a debauched lifestyle.
Five minutes into conversation with so-called masseuse (who claimed to be attending Suzhou University) over some room temperature watermelon, I was offered a beer. I asked how much for one bottle, and was told 30 RMB, 2 RMB more than I had on me. I told the girl, she went outside, and a few moments later a portly Chinese man entered, whom I could only assume was the pimp.
He seemed to suggest to me that I hand over the money I had, and I said I only had 20 RMB and just wanted a massage. I offered to leave immediately, and told him I had only been in the room for five minutes and had consumed all but one slice of an overripe watermelon. He seemed to want to inspect my person for hidden money, but finally he agreed to take the 20 kuai and even offered me to keep the rest for my taxi ride home. What a generous pimp he was.
So I left, having been too cheap to afford a massage or a prostitute...and thinking that the story I had was worth the 20 RMB I had spent for watermelon and five minutes of a prostitutes time. I ended up handing over the 8 kuai to the same man who had brought me here. On the ride home, he kept telling me to come back tomorrow, "you can have sex for only 100 RMB, bring your brother!" I decided that I had seen enough of the dirty underside of China's rapid economic development, and politely refused.
I fell asleep bemused, thinking Larry David would be very proud of me indeed.
"..a bowl of fruit sitting miserably on a plexiglass table, echoing of those Dutch still life paintings which also seemed to suggest the wasted fruits of a debauched lifestyle"
ReplyDeleteprofoundly poetic :)