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🇰🇷 South Korea /Economy & Trade

A remark about wanting a back scratch leads a Chinese entrepreneur to open real shops

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • Zhang Xiaoqiao opened two back-scratching shops in Shenzhen after seeing a social media comment from someone willing to pay for the service.
  • The shops charge 300 yuan an hour and report combined monthly sales of 100,000 yuan, with men making up about 70% of customers.
  • The unusual business has received both praise and skepticism online, while Zhang says he hopes to open 100 shops across China.

A Chinese entrepreneur turned a casual online comment into a business where customers pay to have itchy areas gently scratched.

Zhang Xiaoqiao, 32, opened his first shop, called Suma, in Shenzhen’s Bao’an district in May. He opened a second location in Futian district just one month later. Employees wear specially made pointed nails and gently scratch customers who lie face down on a bed.

People in first-tier cities have a lot of stress, so there is strong demand for the service.

· Zhang XiaoqiaoHe explained why he believes the back-scratching service attracts customers in major Chinese cities.

The service costs 300 yuan an hour. Zhang said many customers appear to visit not because of a physical itch, but to relieve stress. “People in first-tier cities have a lot of stress, so there is strong demand for the service,” he said.

According to Zhang, the two shops generate combined monthly sales of 100,000 yuan, or nearly 20 million won. About 70% of customers are men. He said some customers find the service more relaxing than a massage and that the shops have built a steady base of repeat visitors.

Some customers say our service is more relaxing than a massage, and we have built a solid base of repeat customers.

· Zhang XiaoqiaoHe described customer feedback and repeat business at his two shops.

Zhang, who comes from Hubei province, previously started an e-commerce company that failed and later tried working in the media industry without success. He conceived the new business after seeing a video of a woman scratching her husband’s back. One comment said the writer would pay for someone to scratch theirs. Zhang also remembered his father scratching his back when he was a child. “When my father scratched my back, I could fall asleep peacefully. That was the decisive reason I started this business,” he said.

He wants to open 100 shops across China and establish scratching as a widely accepted occupation. Online reactions have included people saying they want to try the service, while skeptics questioned whether customers would really pay 300 yuan to visit a shop for a back scratch.

When my father scratched my back, I could fall asleep peacefully. That was the decisive reason I started this business.

· Zhang XiaoqiaoHe recalled the childhood experience that inspired the business.
About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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