Heat has long been used as a form of physical therapy, so when I heard about a doctor in Taipei who uses actual fire to heal, I thought he'd be the perfect candidate to melt the plane-seat knots in my back. By fire, I refer to an open flame, applied to the skin, and spread around to realign the energies (or perhaps just burn the confusion out of them).
Besieged by scooters, noisy motor mechanics' shops and traffic, Hsieh Ching-long's Fire Clinic is situated off a typically busy Taipei street. A large sign depicts the good doctor, proud, professional, resembling martial arts hero Jet Li Lianjie and glowing with heat and wisdom.
Hsieh created fire therapy a dozen years ago after medical training in Beijing, using his pyromania and applying his knowledge of traditional medicine and martial arts as a new form of treatment for muscle pain and sports injuries. From the photos on display depicting him with several dozen local celebrities, it's clear his practice is sizzling.
He tells me not just anybody can heal with flame; it requires years of martial arts training to channel your energy and learn how to use your hands as 'irons'. When he demonstrates his technique by ripping an apple in half with his thumbs, I know I'm in good hands.
Hsieh surveys the hull of my back and confirms that it is, indeed, a shipwreck. My treatment will consist of three parts. First, he spreads the energy using the traditional Chinese massage technique of cupping that's common across Asia, in which heat sucks glass cups to the skin. It feels not unlike receiving wet love bites from a halibut.
Next, Hsieh leads me across his small clinic to a massage table, where he assembles a few towels, a bowl containing a paste of 24 herbs, alcohol and a blowtorch.
Spreading the brown goop on my back, Hsieh covers me with a towel, sprinkles it with alcohol, and fires up the blowtorch. Base jumpers are fearless and spelunkers are brave, but nobody in their right mind wants to be at the wrong end of a blowtorch. I sneak a horrified peak from the towel protecting my head, and see the reflection in a window nearby. I'm being grilled. Within moments, Hsieh douses the fire with a towel and proceeds to spread the warmth, massaging the heat with his bare hands. It's bearable if slightly hot, and it must be good for you, otherwise he wouldn't be in business.
