Chinese Cupping

Today was an interesting day, a few of us girls had this silly idea to practice some ancient Chinese medicine... Chinese cupping. (bá guàn) Well, if you are ever in China and want to have a nice relaxing spa experience; do not do ba guan. They light a flame in the cup and then suction cup it to your back. It is supposed to release the toxins in your body. The darker the circle the more toxins apparently. Heidi, from Britian, had some really dark circles, even darker than mine and she is a vegetarian. The actual process was not painful like getting shot or stabbed in the arm, but it was pressure pain and I have had a headache all day. Plus the oh so attractive bruised circles all over my back. A girl, Lou from Minnesota, says the bruises go away in about a week with a healthy diet. In China a healthy diet is actually quite hard to come by. Everything is fried here!!

Some of these pictures are a bit gross to look at. (Sorry Mom!) But now you all know about Chinese cupping... I will let you know how the bruises turn out.

This is my friend Lou getting her back done. I was able to catch the flame quite well.

Below is picture of what mine looked like after all of them were on. I only had 15; another girl, Heidi, had a whopping 27. They told her she has a large back. The Chinese can be very blunt with you.

And now... the after shot. This is a self portrait

of the carnage about 6 hours later.

I hope all of you are doing well! I would love to know how you all are doing. My e-mail is callyhester@yahoo.com if you would like to yell at me for my stupidity or fill me in on what's going on in the states. I miss you all tremendously!