A fun thing to do in Chengdu is to visit one of their many parks and after a nice stroll, get some tea at a tea house.
The tea itself wasn’t anything special to my unsophisticated taste buds. It was just a hot, comforting beverage to be enjoyed while people-watching.
Many years ago, I watched an episode of No Reservations when Anthony Bourdain visited one of these tea houses (actually, maybe even the same one that I went to) and got his ears cleaned from one of many professional ear cleaners who, apart from earwax cleaning, also offer massages. As many patrons were partaking in these services, I thought why not and paid to get my ears cleaned.
The pièce de ré·sis·tance of the experience was at the end of the cleaning when the man inserted a long, thin metal rod with a thin piece of cotton attached to the end into my ear after which he then taps the rod with a pair of metal pincers, thus producing a vibration that transfers onto the thin rod (see video above). This results in a vibration of the rod in my inner ear, producing a “eargasmic” sensation of sorts. This entire experience cost about $5 USD and in my opinion, a worthwhile experience while in Chengdu.