This most likely isn't what you are thinking... naughty!!
About 10 years ago, health insurance in Australia pretty much became compulsory. To make it compulsory, if you earned a certain amount (which in my opinion wasn't very much) you either had to buy health insurance or you got taxed pretty much the same amount health insurance cost... lucky for me I worked for a bank which had an excellent health insurance offering, and suddenly I was about 25 (super fit and healthy) with this ridiculous level of health cover, including one of "Extra or Lifestyle Benefits" - this meant that I could claim up to $400 a year on things like gym membership, acupuncture, chiropractors or massage (but it had to be therapeutic massage).
Anyway, me being me, always thought that I needed to claim on these things to get the benefit of the premiums I was paying on the health insurance. I was claiming the maximum amount on my gym membership which was lets say $200. There was no way people were going to stick needles in me, and so one of the other benefits I could claim was massage, and so with holding telephones and using computers all day long muscle spasms in my neck and shoulders were frequent.
I think back now to my masseuses in Sydney and compare them to massages in China. In Sydney, I lived with a girl for a while who was studying massage, and every now and again, well twice, she'd 'practise' on me. We actually weren't great flatmates, as we were at opposite ends of our twenties and had different home priorities. I didn't actually pay her either for her massages.
My first real masseuse had been vaguely recommended to me via the intranet at work. She worked from her apartment in Bondi Junction. Her front room was where she practised, overlooking a huge leafy tree and she usually had the balcony door open and the salty sea breeze would waft in. At the time I lived just down the road in sunny Coogee, so she wasn't too far away. I went to her for about 3 years, the whole time I lived nearby.
My second masseuse was a lady called Tanya. One day at work I cramped my neck so severely that I had to find someone who could sort it out straight away. One of my colleagues recommended Tanya and warned that I should say that I like quiet massages, minimal chat. She was able to see me virtually straight away, and was in the super convenient spot of being just in the next block up from work. She was strong and her deep tissue massage was excellent. I visited her about every three months for about 5 years. But she could talk the leg off a table! She even gave me a massage when I was pregnant with Jie Jie.
In Sydney, I used to see the Chinese Massage in places I thought were really odd - for example in the Centrepoint food court or just outside Wynyard Train Station - acknowledging they were cheap (comparatively) but couldn't see the attraction of having a massage with your clothes on or in such a public spot.
So in Sydney, I was largely exclusive with my masseuses! Except for the one time when I was given for a birthday a super special massage voucher, for a massage by the sea, literally on the rocks at Bondi Icebergs... the salt spray, the waves and the seagulls making it super relaxing and amazing. It is also the only time I was massaged by a masseur.
Now in China, there's no health insurance incentive for having massages but it is affordable! A Chinese massage costs about 75RMB for one hour... this is insane, as I used to pay $75 (AUD) for the same, and would only get about $15 back per session (so yes, a bit of false economy) from health insurance..... so in China, a massage costs about $11(AUD). And there is a massage place on nearly every corner. And in each spa (fancier name for massage place) there are a number of masseurs and masseuses. And as seems to be tradition here, they only give you their employee number if you ask, not their name - so they will answer "I'm Seventeen, thank you" except in Chinese. Because I struggle with that procedure, I am unlikely to come in again and ask if twenty six is free, and so here in China, most every time I have a massage I have a different practitioner.
Chinese massage is different though, because you stay fully dressed - usually I will wear something comfortable, like tracky daks, and you are not necessarily in a private room. The place I go to most often has rooms with four massage tables in them, and while you might start alone, other people may come in during your massage. Sometimes they even chat throughout the whole thing, with their friend on the next table!
But, in Expat-ville, which is where I live in Shanghai, there is also a proliferation of Western style day spas. I have a massage here every now and again too - and even this (with private rooms, near naked, relaxing music and oil) is half the price of Australia... but again, you are unlikely to ask for your therapist, because there are still too many there!
So in Australia, I had a total of four people massaging me, and here in China I have completely lost count.
And for the record, I am not one of those people always indulging themselves - it is still a treat, but one which is less out of reach than it used to be.
