(Chinese Aerobics)
I’m going to interrupt the reports on Beijing for today and instead, I’ll write about my experience this evening at a Chinese gym. Jhania and I were invited to join our friend Marta, an American teacher here, at the local gym - there was a boxing/aerobics class at 6:30. Marta has been going there for about a month now. I will probably take a picture one of these days, but I’ll let you build a mental picture first. The gym is located near the center of town. It’s down a very dark alley and the entrance is also not lit. It didn’t look promising upon arrival. While we walked up a few flights of stairs, we gazed at the large gym ads on the wall - lots of Chinese writing paired with tacky 80s shots of fitness buffs.
We could hear the music pumping as we reached the top of the staircase - 90s techo, my favourite. When we opened the door the entire gym literally froze. Three blonde-haired, blue-eyed foreigners here to work out? Unheard of! Once the boys got on with their weights, we took a minute to look around. The gym is equipped with four treadmills (2 of which work), a few stationary bikes and a couple weight sets. Score! There’s also a stage and area for fitness classes - this is where the aerobics class was already in progress - we were a little late.
We assumed our positions among the other attendees, there was about 10 of us in total. The fitness instructor looked like he came straight out of a Japanese anime film (except that he’s Chinese) - all bulked up and everything. My favourite part about him was that he kept checking himself out in the mirror as he was teaching (I would too if I looked like that). The workout itself was pretty simple - a lot of punching, jabbing and jogging on the spot. The instructor was really into it and kept adding in special high kick-jumps that made us all look like samurai - he seemed to do it in slow motion. The music was so perfectly timed to this workout that each time we punched or kicked the air a noise would sound as if we had really hit something. I felt like I was playing a video game - or in one of those old superhero movies.
When the class was over, Jhania and I decided that we definitely wanted to join the gym for the rest of the time that we’re here - only 1 month. For $20, you can’t go wrong. Even if it’s just to participate in the blast from the 80s workouts each week.
I’m going to interrupt the reports on Beijing for today and instead, I’ll write about my experience this evening at a Chinese gym. Jhania and I were invited to join our friend Marta, an American teacher here, at the local gym - there was a boxing/aerobics class at 6:30. Marta has been going there for about a month now. I will probably take a picture one of these days, but I’ll let you build a mental picture first. The gym is located near the center of town. It’s down a very dark alley and the entrance is also not lit. It didn’t look promising upon arrival. While we walked up a few flights of stairs, we gazed at the large gym ads on the wall - lots of Chinese writing paired with tacky 80s shots of fitness buffs.
We could hear the music pumping as we reached the top of the staircase - 90s techo, my favourite. When we opened the door the entire gym literally froze. Three blonde-haired, blue-eyed foreigners here to work out? Unheard of! Once the boys got on with their weights, we took a minute to look around. The gym is equipped with four treadmills (2 of which work), a few stationary bikes and a couple weight sets. Score! There’s also a stage and area for fitness classes - this is where the aerobics class was already in progress - we were a little late.
We assumed our positions among the other attendees, there was about 10 of us in total. The fitness instructor looked like he came straight out of a Japanese anime film (except that he’s Chinese) - all bulked up and everything. My favourite part about him was that he kept checking himself out in the mirror as he was teaching (I would too if I looked like that). The workout itself was pretty simple - a lot of punching, jabbing and jogging on the spot. The instructor was really into it and kept adding in special high kick-jumps that made us all look like samurai - he seemed to do it in slow motion. The music was so perfectly timed to this workout that each time we punched or kicked the air a noise would sound as if we had really hit something. I felt like I was playing a video game - or in one of those old superhero movies.
When the class was over, Jhania and I decided that we definitely wanted to join the gym for the rest of the time that we’re here - only 1 month. For $20, you can’t go wrong. Even if it’s just to participate in the blast from the 80s workouts each week.
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