We Tried is a series where RADII staff try out unique foods, experiences, and phenomena in China. Drop us a line if you have a suggestion.

In China, there’s more to your average TCM/massage parlor than just traditional massage. At most places, you can get anything from your neck scraped and back suctioned to your face tickled and even your nose picked.

Then there’s the ears — those overworked, but often neglected little flaps that never get the TLC they truly deserve. Luckily, Chinese clinics have thought of that as well, and offer an hour-long treatment to scrape, vibrate, tickle and tease out your ear wax for 138RMB (20USD).

This week on We Tried, we put RADII staff Mayura Jain and Li Zhang on the table to see how pleasant or painful ear cleaning actually is — (spoiler alert: it’s kind of awesome!) — and witness the unpleasant discovery of what really builds up inside our ears.