Chinese Knife Massage (And Blind Massage) at Taipei City Mall
Knife massages, or dao liao, sound like a gimmicky tourist trap, but the tradition is actually over 2000 years old. According to research done by Nanhua University, Chinese Buddhist monks in the Han and Tang Dynasties would offer knife massages to the severely ill if other medicine failed to show results. The tradition died out in China, but not before spreading to Japan and Taiwan — the latter of which being the only place where it is kept alive today.
Knife massages purportedly enhance metabolism, improve blood and sleeping quality, aid in fat loss, and provide relief from sore muscles. Although we’re not too sure about the first four claims (how can it improve your blood quality?), after trying it for ourselves we can report that it does have a similar effect to a normal Chinese massage. Although it may sound scary, the knife blades are totally dull, so there is zero chance of being accidentally sliced. Instead, the metal blades are aimed in a quick, chopping motion, apparently removing negative energy while they pound your pressure points and relax your muscles.
The knife massage place is run by the Chinese World Knife Therapy Association, a Taiwanese organisation trying to bring back the ancient practice of knife massage. This is not their only branch, but it’s the only permanent location we have come across so far. It’s located near exit Y13 of Taipei City Mall, a rather old-fashioned underground mall connected to Taipei Main Station. Apparently, Taipei City Mall was the first underground mall in Taipei, which is unsurprising– it’s nothing like the fancy malls in Xinyi, but a good place to buy knock-off sunglasses, cheap Chinese clothes and fake jade bracelets.
If you’ve ever been to Taipei Main Station, you know what a headache it is to find anything inside it — check out the address down below so you can access it from the outside, rather than navigate yourself through the many winding paths within. The shop is not next to exit Y13, but you will see it within 30 seconds of walking if you come into the mall through the exit and turn left.
The cheapest knife massage is a ten-minute session for NT$220, which is what we chose. Our friend, having tried and loved the ten-minute session before, went for the thirty-minute session for NT$660. The ten-minute massage is done on one of the massage chairs at the front of the shop (offering little privacy, although you are covered by a cloth and your face is obscured by the chair), and the thirty-minute session is done on a bed. Both sessions start with a quick massage to warm up your muscles before the main act — the knife massage.
The ten-minute massage focuses only on your shoulders, neck, upper arms, and head. Like other Chinese massages, the therapist hits various pressure points and kneads out knots where they find them in a rather violent way, only this time, they have knives. We have actually tried the knife massage twice before, and this place hit us the hardest — if you don’t like a rough massage, be sure to warn them in advance. The therapist checked in with us halfway, but by this point we were already wincing in pain. We prefer tough massages to gentle ones, so it wasn’t a problem, and we immediately felt relief in our sore muscles. The therapist was able to pinpoint problem areas and work on them individually, but the real highlight was the head massage — it sounds counterintuitive, but the blades felt incredible hitting the pressure points in our head, and this was actually one of our favourite head massages of all time.
The thirty-minute massage was essentially the same thing, but for longer, and it included the lower back, hips, and legs. Our friend enjoyed it a lot, despite having several bruises the next day. She told us that lying down was a better position for the therapist to get at her shoulders, although sitting up was better for them to do her back.
Even though we were attracted to the knife massage place for the novelty, we left feeling satisfied. In our opinion, traditional massages are better able to pinpoint and work on problem areas, but the knives do provide relief too. We loved the head massage in particular, preferring it to any other that we’ve had in Taiwan or China. We didn’t feel like $220 was a bad price, and our friend was satisfied with the $660 that she paid.
FYI — we have had free, five-minute taster sessions at Tongua Night Market and Dihua Street, although the massage people are not always there. We also tried one at Taitung Night Market that was $100 for ten minutes, so it is possible to get a better deal than this shop, but it’s not always guaranteed. The other massages were just as good and we didn’t feel obligated to pay for a full one afterward. So, if you have time to explore we would recommend trying to get a free one, because why pay at all when you can get it for free? Still, if you’re really curious and don’t mind burning $220, it’s not a bad deal, and it saves you from checking the night markets and Dihua Street. Your call!
If the knife massage doesn’t sound like your thing, there is a surprisingly good blind massage place right next to exit Y13. Prices range on average from $100 for ten minutes (any body part of your choice) to $400 for a 30-minute foot massage, and there are hour-long options too. We discovered this blind massage first and tried it on a whim for the random factor with very low expectations. Since we were feeling rather sore from a hike, we went for the $200 for 20 minutes option, curious to see if it would be any good.
To our surprise, the massage was excellent. Not only were the workers sweet and helpful, but the therapists were incredibly well-trained and skilled in their craft. We were a bit dubious about the open-air nature of the shop — Taipei City Mall is rather dingy, with lots of suspiciously cheap shops — as well as the gimmicky aspect, but as soon as our therapists started their massage all our worries melted away. By the time our 20 minutes was over, we were totally relaxed and blinking sleep from our eyes. The massage ended with a cup of hot tea and a complimentary pineapple cake.
We first went on a Wednesday afternoon, and there was a very short wait until we were seated. When we walked past the shop on a Tuesday evening, however, the place was pretty packed, with multiple people queuing for their turn. We don’t know if these were repeat customers or people who, like us, had a spare 20 minutes and decided to squeeze in a cheap massage.
20 minutes for $200 certainly is a good price, even if it isn’t the cheapest or best massage in Taipei. We certainly enjoyed our experience and would recommend giving it a try if it appeals to you and you happen to be in the area. The knife massages are not quite as good a deal, nor did we enjoy them quite as much, but we liked the overall experience and definitely felt better afterward. It’s a great experience if you haven’t tried it before or have visitors, and the $220 for ten minutes option isn’t unreasonable. Don’t forget that there are occasionally free five-minute taster sessions on offer at Dihua Street or some night markets around Taiwan, so if you have the time you may want to check those out before committing to the $220. Interestingly, the only people we’ve ever met who have tried the knife massages have been foreigners — our Taiwanese friends said they sound “shady,” and prefer to go for a traditional Chinese massage.
What’s the vibe?
Open-air massage shops in a rather dingy underground mall. The knife massage place is decorated in quite a cool way, adding to the atmosphere, while the blind massage place looks pretty run-down. The knife massage shop didn’t have many customers when we were there, but there was a long queue for the blind massage place.
Worth it?
The knife massage is worth it for the experience, although we wouldn’t particularly recommend you do more than the cheapest, shortest option. The blind massage is definitely worth it, experience or no, due to the skilled therapists.
Would you go back?
We would definitely take people to the knife massage place, but we wouldn’t go back ourselves now that we’ve personally experienced it. We much prefer the massage at the blind massage shop, which we will definitely return to at some point.
Visited: July 2018
| Taipei City Mall Exit Y13 |
| Chinese Name: 台北地下街出口Y13 |
| Hours: Taipei City Mall: 9:30am – 10pm Massage Shops: 11am - 9pm |
| Phone: 02 2559 4566 |
| English Address: Taipei City Mall Exit Y13, Zhengzhou Road, Datong District, Taipei City, 103 |
| Chinese Address: 103台北市大同區鄭州路20號 (台北地下街出口Y13) |
