Does that mean the massage is more like a Swedish rub?

Thai massage at the temple massage school in BKK was $6.00 or so is like acupuncture, even a mediocre session is effective.

Am a regular at the Acupuncture college here with excellent noticible results.
Are there 'shops' available there, that offer on the go tune ups as needed?^

You can get pretty much any style of massage that your heart desires in China. But I would say that foot reflexology is the local fav. The only time I've ever paid close to US prices was at the banyan tree in the westin and that was honestly no nicer than taipan.

If you're comfortable being in the presence of naked guys, a visit to a spa is warranted
The xiaonanguo in gubei is my top pick in sh by a mile. It's far nicer than any place I've been downtown and they haven't raised their prices in ten years. I.e. the disgustingly gross and poorly maintained bath house near me is actually more expensive.

Forgot all about the effective foot massages and will definitely take advantage of them often more so then a body massage. They are so convenient among the shops in Thailand. :)

Don't have anything against nude men, but what does xiaonanguo in gubei offer for travel fatigue?
Another natural luxury I enjoy when traveling are hot mineral springs water for therapeutic sessions with ot without a masssage. That has reached the highest state of the art in Germany/Europe.
Hyperthermia is one of the best approaches to counter cancer cells!

Well, they claim that all of their water originates from an underground hot spring. While I highly doubt this is the case, they have all sorts of cool baths that you won't find in Japan (e.g. Chinese medicine bath, green tea bath, milk bath, beer bath) plus an outdoor bath that is very Japanese, and an ice bath ("10 mins sauna, 2 mins ice bath" is one of my favorite rituals).

Furthermore, they offer tons of massage services in addition to the body scrub at price points that are north of Taipan, but far south of the Banyan Tree.

There are better spas than Xiaonanguo in both Beijing and Guangdong, but since I happen to live in Shanghai at the moment, I visit the former fairly often.

Usually with NATURAL springs locations, there are other related outlets nearby. I have seen several places that claim to be the only source outlet like in Palm Springs California. It is not uncommon for some to dry up and yet the spa waters coninutes to flow! :)

Less then 20 miles north in Desert Hot Springs, there are many many motel properties with real mineral hot waters in the pools and even piped into the bathtubs of the rooms. ^

Several years ago, I met a "Lambo Girl" in Guangzhou, who brought me to her hot spring resort, which was simply amazing. On the way back to town, her (Bentley) driver advised me that the "natural" thing was a farce. I didn't care in the least, and if I can arrange for you to drive an orange Lambo during your China trip, you won't either.

I sense a long story here... :)

Cool stories are always better than long stories ;)

Hm, yes, I'd have to agree. Even if I met a girl with an orange Lamborghini, I doubt she'd take me to her... hot springs. That must have been some adventure.

This sounds like a Prince song:
" I met a girl in Shanghai in her Orange Lamorghini, I took her to a bar for two or three martini, then I said to her take me to your....... hot springs baby baby baby"

Dang! I thought this snic nick was the ultimate disguise. How did you know that I'm Prince??

Shhh... Denial is the best defense sgr. Principe!

Another good place to spend a few hours is always the Shanghai Brewery....

You guys are killing me! Do we need wore wechat tales?

might have a stopover here in a couple of months and trying to determine if it would be worthwhile to leave the airport given limited time (at this point 6 hours but might extend).

(1) How long does it take to go through immigration (24hr transit visa)?
(2) How long to go from airport into Shanghai? (fastest method)
(3) How long to go through airport security/customs when I return to airport?

I think you want TWOV (Transit without visa) if you are visiting on an American passport (your status indicates California?) as this will allow you to avoid from applying for a visa.

The line for passport control has a big variation however I would say the maximum I have experienced at PVG recently is 1 hour.

Airport to Shanghai also huge variation depending on traffic and ultimate destination. I still think the fastest way into the city is by taxi or car/driver usually if heading into Shanghai itself (for some areas of Pudong I suppose the maglev+taxi may be marginally faster but I doubt it).

Security/customs on return as long as you are in the queue 75 minutes prior to departure you will make your flight. Be careful if you need to checkin for your flight as PVG is quite a stickler for minimum checkin times (as is CAN)- be sure you make that minimum time if you need to check bags/get a boarding pass (I suspect you may need to get a boarding pass but that also depends).

I would do it- pop into the city for a day- a lot of fun things to do and always a great city to see unless you are sick of it. Note on the weekends you can usually find a good deal at one of the Hyatts unless there is an event at the time. Both the Andaz and the Hyatt on the Bund are well located for a quick leisure visit.