Massage therapist/ spa therapist

When I first moved to China, I held 11 active patents, and three engineering degrees with nearly 30 years experience in factories, new product development and quality. You would think that it would be easy for me to land a job in my field. You would think that I would have it easy. No such luck.

It took me nearly five years to eventually get back into my field.

Being an English teacher is the easiest guarantee of an employment visa and employment that I know of. But it is NOT easy. It is a lot of work, and there is a lot expected of you. The pay will be modest, and poverty level if you compare to American salaries.

Being a masseuse is very popular here in China and many people do it. It runs the gambit to small local foot massage gals and men to high end massages with happy endings. BTW; "happy endings" are legal in China as it is a related therapy.

If you were to become a masseur in China, then you would need the following...

[1] College degree and two years experience. These are the minimum requirements for any non-Chinese citizen to obtain an Expert certificate and get a employment visa.

[2] Reasonable speaking ability in Chinese, unless you would only cater to foreign clients, it would be mandatory.

[3] An employer. You will not be able to work freelance in China. You would either need to have an employer, set up your own company (a WOFE), or partner with a local Chinese person (They get 51% of the stock by law).

It is a challenge, but not impossible. You just need to think out what you are doing and then plan accordingly. There are many ways to accomplish what you want to do, you just need to find the route most suitable for your own personal situation.

Best Regards.

Thank you so much!!!

Would I still need to gather a work permit an/or zvisa

@Traveling masseuse

Yes. No matter what you do there are some basic fundamentals that you must accept. These are pretty basic, but I'll run them down for you.

[1] You must have a valid passport (with blank pages in it)
[2] You must apply for a visa.
[3] You will need to buy a round trip airline ticket.
[4]] You would need to save up enough money to live off of for a set period of time; at least one month.
[5] You need to have a plan of what you would do when you arrive, and a goal to accomplish. This will necessitate a timeline.

Without any of the above you aren't planning, you are just dreaming.

None of the basics are prohibitive. It just takes work, planning and a dream. Most people don't have a dream. They instead have a want. They typically fail simply because China is too much to take in. It is sensory overload, and it is a harsh environment of working nerds.

You need to have a dream, as it will be strong enough to push and sustain you when everything goes to sh@t. If you have a partner, it will be much easier. There is nothing that can help you than the support of a loved one during shared sacrifice.

Some people mistakenly think that they don't need these two things. That they can just hop on a plane and make it everywhere. That looks great on the internet, and in movies, but in real life it just doesn't work out that way.

Sometimes people take what I am trying to say the wrong way. They think that I am being negative, or that I am trying to frighten them. Nothing can be further from the truth. I am here, and where I am at through many, many, MANY hardships. It wasn't easy, and my story while unique fits a profile that many wanna-be expats can relate to in some significant way.

When I advise upon getting the basics solid and prepared, I mean that it is a NECESSARY REQUIREMENT. There is no other way around the basics.

When I advise against traveling alone, it is simply because I know the pitfalls that can befall people, as well as the things you WILL miss out on. Life is NOT meant to be lived alone. It is meant to be shared, and while all the gals might enjoy reading a romance novel and dream about it, and a man does the same thing about companionship, is when both do an adventure together that they bond in an unbreakable way.

A man looks for companionship. When he gets it, the woman experiences unplanned romance.

In my eyes, traveling to a new and different place, such as China offers so much. Plan it. Study for it. Save up for it, and bring someone to share the experiences with. Life is too short. Life is meant to be lived. Live it well.

I offer you my best sincerest wishes on your most exciting future ahead of you.

Why would I need a round trip airline ticket if I may ask? And would it be wiser for me to go seek a visa agency in America before I make a leave to China ?

You would need  return trip ticket because visa's are time limited. They only operate for a specific period of time and then, just like Cinderella you turn into a pumpkin. You have to leave. The most common visas are typically a single entry (in) and good for three months stay, and then you MUST leave.

You DO NOT want to overstay your visa in China.

China is not like the USA. They do not play around. They are a serious, serious nation that is run by leaders who got there on merit. As opposed to America's leadership who got there by mob popularity.

If you overstay your visa you will be arrested, you will pay a fee (that will increase each day you overstay) and you will do hard time in prison while the money is collected. Doing time in prison in China can be problematic as you are subject to potential organ-harvesting. You do want to keep you eyes, yes? Your liver and kidneys are important to you, yes?

A round-trip ticket guarantees that you have the means to leave that nation.

Yes, there are other nations that have this requirement, and the Western backpackers that flaunt the rules. They beg on the streets, and do other things. You need to understand that China is not some 3rd tier nation. It's successful, modern, and the people obey the law here.

In Thailand, you can get away with it...perhaps...







Yes, there are numerous work-arounds. But, you should never count on them. Many people, especially Americans have this idea that China is sort of like a big version of Thailand or Indonesia, or some other nation that they have read about. But this is really not.. not the case at all.

China is a well-developed nation. maybe 10 years you might have been able to get by on this, not in today's China. You try begging or panhandling in China, and the local beggar-boss is going to put you in your place long before the police come to haul you off to jail. China is organized, and very serious about their life, their culture and their history.



China today, in 2019, is a very organized powerful nation that demands the best that you can provide. If you are willing to assist China towards greatness they will welcome you with open arms. If you are willing to integrate with their conservative traditional culture, they will also be willing to welcome you. For China is, if anything... a very conservative and traditional culture.



I strongly advise you to follow the law, and proceed with caution. If you cannot scrounge up enough for a round-trip ticket, then perhaps you need to take a good hard look at the effort that you are putting towards preparation.

Thank you for all your help I will be taking your advice an making the most of my experience in China with this knowledge.