I wanted to visit one of those 'secret' Dongguan ISO-style spas in Shenzhen for quite some time, and couldn't have been more disappointed. For those who are not familiar, these spas offer FS but only to people who are invited or old customers. I managed to secure an invite through an agent for this spa, which is located at Nanshan Book Mall metro station D exit (don't bother going there, they won't let you through the door without an invite).

So I walked through the door and my initial experience was very positive. The staff was very friendly and the place brand new. A lady takes me to a smaller room and offers tea and slippers. After that she takes me upstairs to my room. The room is a normal massage room, but again nicely decorated. Then that the massage lady who gives veggie massages came in and leads me to the shower.

After showering I go back to the room for the veggie massage. The veggie massage is quite good and comfortable, but not the massage I came for. However I figured as with some other places they first offer a veggie massage before moving on to the fun part.

Sure enough after approximately 1 hour the masseuse leaves the room and the lady from earlier comes in, who turns out to be the mamasan. She starts a whole lengthy presentation of the services they offer, while teasing my nipples and LB. As explained by the agent before, they offer different kinds of rooms (Japanese, European etc.) as well as different levels of WGs (models etc.) Then she says newcomers can normally not enjoy any special services, however if I would apply for a VIP card with them, which requires you to charge at least 50,000(!) RMB the boss would allow for an exception. No way I'm paying 50k RMB to a place that could be shut down by LE any day. I told her that there was no way I would apply for a VIP card, however if I was satisfied with the service I would be a repeat customer.

I persisted that a VIP card was not an option. The agent originally mentioned 1200 RMB for FS and I was even thinking if it's a couple of hundred more without VIP card it wouldn't be an issue. Then the mamasan offers a special 'newcomer experience package' to me, which would allow for FS without VIP card, but only the first two times. 5000 RMB for one time! Now I was really getting pissed. I made it clear to her that I was expecting 1200 RMB for Dongguan ISO-style. Finally she makes an offer of 4000 RMB. Enough is enough and I get up from the massage table.

I start looking for my clothes. Where are my clothes?! I had my valuables so I was ready to leave wearing the establishment's pajamas if I had to. Turns out they were just inside the cabinet. The mamasan seems a bit surprised by my reaction, especially because I just shamelessly change my clothes with everything for her to see. I can imagine a lot of bros falling for this rip off because of the teasing and guilting techniques the mamasan uses. Now the mamasan says I need to pay for the veggie massage. I tell her I can pay a fair price for it. She says over 1k RMB. Whatever.

The mamasan takes me to a waiting room and then goes to get my shoes. There's a pricelist on the table, and I start looking at it. Moments later the mamasan arrived with my shoes and POS machine. She saw I was looking at the pricelist, which said 580 RMB for the massage. I guess she had no choice but to enter 580 RMB into the POS machine. Even now the mamasan still tries to convince me. After paying I got up and left straight for the exit.

I feel this place would really have offered FS if I had paid the 4000 RMB, so I'm reluctant to call it a complete scam. Nonetheless, if you say 1.2k, don't expect me to pay 4 or even 50.

Oops. I just re-read and totally misunderstood. I thought she was offering to sell a 4K card. Wow... yeah... I change my previous note.

4K for one time is insane. Definitely something to watch out for.

I while back, before cell phone got popular with apps like wechat,  I brought a few club card. After visiting a place once,

sometimes they offer a future discount with a club card.

It was't too bad. There were like $20 to $40 rmb.  You will get your money back by the first or second time.  

I usually gave them a few friends to use until I returned back to China.  More than half the places were gone after 2  yrs. I am assuming most by LE,  some taken over with new name, moved, and others went out of business.


Can you give me the name/address/telephone of the place in Chinese or if they have an English name.

[ Last edited by  Weelock at 8-6-2020 17:40 ]

These days a lot of places, at least those who intent on staying in business for longer and not just a quick cash grab, don't even offer club cards. Especially in places like Shenzhen, it's too much of a liability. Because if a bro is unhappy, he can easily send LE after them. Otherwise it's just plain annoying. I come to a massage place to relax, not to listen to a sales pitch.

Honestly the scams aren't as bad as they used to be. Thinking about it it reminds me of the timesharing scams in Europe. Use your brain and don't agree to anything. You can lose a shipload of money but at least you won't get beat up by a group of guys.

From the outside this place looks very nondescript and inconspicuous.

I almost joined a timeshare twice. First it was a presentation of what was a timeshare.  Then I went to a free 3 day 4 night free vacation to Las Vegas. The catch to LV was watching a timeshare presentation and paying the hotel fees.  

Looking back now, with the virus, luckily I didn't buy one. I am sure almost all timeshare are canceled because of the virus.  I am sure I still have to pay their annual fees even with the virus and not traveling.   I don't want to go around when most places are closed and catching the virus.

[ Last edited by  Weelock at 9-6-2020 00:03 ]

first time on here so not sure about the etiquette... but i can say that there are many spas open and back in action now in Shenzhen. and service is better than back in january. so no need to go into risky joints.