The Cabinet of Dr. Yu

Climb a few steps up from the courtyard, hidden unobtrusively behind the back wall and the Cabinet of Dr. Yu opens up before you: it is certainly worth a visit. This small pavilion, with its walls covered with labradorite from Madagascar and agate from Brazil and with a floor made of Carrara marble, contains six pools. Where thousands of tiny Garra rufa, or pedicure fish, swim. These have been used for thousands of years in the Middle East, around the Dead Sea and in Turkey, for the treatment of skin conditions or more generally to soften the skin of the feet. You dip your feet into their pool, and very quickly they arrive and very gently clean any dry skin flakes or dead cells from the skin. When there is none left, they stop. A treatment lasts between ten and fifteen minutes, in relatively cool water, between 23 and 24°C. It leaves the skin feeling soft and silky. A very pleasant experience in a very pleasant setting. Of course, strict rules of hygiene are observed. This treatment, which was imported into Asia, has become very popular. The Chinese, in particular, appreciate it and, since we are in China, we thought it would be amusing to call the place the “Cabinet of Dr. Yu”. Because Yu, in Mandarin Chinese, means fish!