So on to Shanghai. Much more modern than Beijing and during the time I was there a lot less polluted. I didn't have a chance to try any of the famous spas and had to stick to the regular massage places and clubs. I was on the bund and there are a ton of little massage parlors in the back streets. Who can argue with $10 foot massages ? especially when they are given by 20 something hotties. I talked to a few of the girls, they ranged from 20 to 26 and most were in Shanghai illegally. All asked if I wanted a massage later in the hotel one girl quoted 400RMB and would probably have come lower.

How good are you at negotiation ? If you don't like to negotiate then you won't enjoy the massage places. It's all about the upsell. First place I went to had a tall very attractive 24 year old from Huanan, I decided on the cheapest full body massage at something like 200RMB. Once we were in the room she asked if I wanted to upgrade, I said full body upgrade she smiled and said of course. So for 355RMB I got a nice HJ and free roaming hands.

Happy with my deal I assumed that buying an oil massage automatically included above mentioned services. On my last day I tried a different place, I should have stuck to the tried and true but I wanted to explore. I picked the 355RMB oil massage (all places have nearly identical prices) and went down to the room with an attractive attendant. I should have realized something was wrong when she tried to sell me a pair of shorts for 40RMB, once she realized I was not going for it she tried to upsell me on the 800RMB 2 hour massage. Getting a bit annoyed I asked her to just get on with the massage. On the flip she asked if I wanted the HJ which I said of course, she quoted me 200RMB. At my incredulous look she claimed that they were not allowed to give any extras to customers. Now had I started at the 200RMB full body massage she would have been happy to upsell me on the oil massage and we would not have had any arguments about extras. So let that be a lesson to you, in Shanghai always start low and let them upsell you.

On an earlier night we headed down to club 88 where I went home with a local girl. She might have been a semi-pro and happily took the 200RMB I gave to her for the cab ride in the morning. On our way back we saw a ton of street walkers near the hotels in the bund at 3am, since I already had a girl with me I couldn't stop and check the prices but that's another option for anyone striking out at the clubs. We went to a few KTVs but I did not see any of the famous KTV girls, we might have been at the wrong KTV or it could have been the crack down due to the shanghai expo. The expo itself is ridiculously big and I wouldn't bother unless you like walking and are willing to go at night when the lines are a lot shorter.

Beijing sucks, and not in a good way. At the famous maggies, the girls all (well... 90% of them at least) looked past their prime. HRC was just about empty at 11pm on a Wednesday, but Xiu had a nice selection of girls on a night out on Thursday nights, ladies night. Not sure if it's because of the world cup, but I doubt that matters.

Shanghai was magnitudes better. But it's still no HK. (Where you can get full service for $200! Or a 141 for $400-500 HK)

As for the massage places, I likely overpaid at 200RMB for a HE. Cute girl, said she was 18, looked 22-24 to me. But she was totally rough on the equipment. She was working it for probably 30 minutes after a semi rough night of drinking.