gym in BLCU

[h1980]

大家好,

This september i will start learning in BLCU and i wonder whether the gym and the pool in the university are open for the students for free or whether there is an entrance fee?

thanks:)

[maguire]

the gym at blcu is pretty good, its called fusion fitness, a bunch of treadmills, bikes, two cross trainers, two rowing machines and every major type of weights machine and free weights. its not free though, cost differs depending on their promotions but is roughly 250RMB a month at the very most, alternatively you can pay 25rmb each time you go which might work out cheaper, the swimming pool is not included in this, it is also 25rmb a go.

[karmakid]

In HuaQingJiaYuan there's a swimmingpool which costs about 10-12kuai per go.

The gym is about the same but its nowhere near as advanced as the one in school.

It's got some treadmills bikes weights etc..

But if you plan to stay near there it might be worth checking out.

[dumpling_libre]

can non-BLCU students join Fusion? I'm attending BeiDa.

Also, how far away is BLCU from BeiDa?

[underscorex5]

Just thought I would drop my two cents in about going to the pool.

1) You have to wear a bathing cap. My friend and I didnt know this and we got lots of weird looks (on top of the fact that I was wearing bright pink board shorts and bathing suit top) and had to buy one for 10kuai each.

2) The 50kuai deposit is for a key and plastic thing that you use to start the showers. This too took me awhile to figure out, but all you have to do is put the plastic thing on the keypad looking thing to make the shower start.

Have fun:)

Ange

[yonitabonita]

I thought that Fusion Fitness was overpriced for what it had to offer. The classes were irregular and there wasn't that much equipment compared to Perfect Fitness which isn't amazing but has a lot more equipment and more space than Fusion. Perfect Fitness is only 5 mins walk from the east gate of the BLCU and much more reasonably priced.

I got quoted 800 rmb for a 9 month membership in Feb this year. Things may have changed but being so close, it's worth shopping around.

Y

[teachinator]

I looked into the Fusion Fitness facility on campus briefly today and got the prices. They seem to have gone up since someone posted earlier this summer. I was quoted 798 yuan for the quarter or 30 yuan for a single visit, compared to the 25 yuan per single visit that the earlier poster mentioned.

As for the quality, I really can't say. I saw quite a few machines and my brain just registered "Yep, it looks like a gym." :-) One thing that appealed to me was that the clerk said they had free taiqi classes for members every afternoon and I was planning to pay (300 yuan) for BLCU's classes, so that was 300 yuan I could put toward the membership.

There are slight discounts if multiple people join at one time, starting with 5% for 3 to 5 people up to 20% discount for 15+. I was thinking about trying to get a group together to join, but as I'm personally only here for three months that probably won't work for me -- probably all the people need to join for the same length of time and what's the likelihood of that many short-timers both wanting to join and reading this forum?

The on-campus aspect of Fusion is a big plus, but now I'd like to know more about this Perfect Fitness five minutes away from the east gate. I haven't noticed it but then I haven't been looking for it. Yonitabonita or any other current or former members of either or both gyms, could you comment further?

[yonitabonita]

Yesterday I walked past "Perfect Fitness" yesterday and noticed that it is now called "Zhangbei Fitness" - exactly the same name as the bigger swisher (and different) "Zhangbei Fitness" further up the road.

In February/March this year, I looked at Fusion Fitness as well as Perfect Fitness. As mentioned in my previous post, I thought that Perfect Fitness had a lot more to offer in terms of space (larger than Fusion) and equipment (more than Fusion). I was specifically looking for Pilates classes etc, and Perfect Fitness had more classes available. It was far more competitive price wise too, but I don't know whether the change of name equates to a change of price etc. If you're at the BLCU, it's easy for you to pop in and check.

At the time, I thought the change rooms were cramped at Perfect Fitness. I also wondered whether the super low rate might attract a higher than comfortable membership number esp. during peak hours.

Anyway, at the time I didn't join either gym.

I don't mean to make it harder, but I thought I'd mention that I've checked out Zhangbei Fitness behind Starbucks (on Xueyuanlu) and have decided to join it. There's a promotional rate for 1680y per year for students, and 1980y per year for non-students. The condition of Zhangbei is a heap better than both Fusion and what was called Perfect Fitness. The equipment is new, there's lots of space, there are professionally qualified trainers/ instructors, a heap of classes, sauna, clean changerooms, plus a bunch of silly stuff like, ping pong tables, free internet. I heard that there's also free dinner and lunch for members, but I couldn't confirm this myself. There's a pool too (though not set up right for laps). I inquired in April and at the time they quoted me 3980y per year. I think people work out in the summer and hibernate in the winter which explains the rate difference.

I know that you're only here for 3 months, but at a push, you could always try and sell off the membership. I don't know what the demand is like, but it's at least an option.

Directions to Perfect Fitness (Zhangbei Fitness) :

From the East gate of the BLCU, head north. Walk for about 5 minutes till you see a building with "Yellow Hat" written on it. The gym should be just next door.

To Zhangbei Fitness:

From the East gate of the BLCU, head north, walk 10-15 minutes (approx) you'll see a big red apartment complex across the road. There'll be a Starbucks on the corner. Go to the back of the building, and Zhangbei Fitness is on level 5.

Hope this helps.

Yonita

[teachinator]

Hey yonitabonita,

Thank you so much for posting all that information. As it turns out, a funny coincidence -- the young Chinese guy who attached himself to me as a language partner (met him at Chaoshifa grocery) works at "Zhangbei Fitness" -- though which one, I don't know. I asked him what a 3-month membership cost and he said 666 yuan. I need to tell him that that number might drive some potential Western clients away!

I am going to drop by both and ask about the rates. I didn't have the nerve to ask my partner if he could get me a cheaper price. 666 is not enough cheaper than Fusion Fitness's 798 yuan to be worth much of an extra walk.

[teachinator]

So I went scouting out the two gyms near BLCU this morning and this is my report. I’m mostly going to talk about prices for 3-month memberships since that is what I was most interested in, but I actually copied down a great deal more pricing information that I can type in if people want it.

First of all, there are indeed two gyms named Zhangbei Fitness near the Beijing Language and Culture University campus. The smaller one is about a 5-minute walk north of BLCU’s main (east) gate, on the same side of Xue Yuan Lu as the university, so it’s easy to walk to; you don’t have to cross any major intersections to get there. It’s downstairs in the building with the Yellow Hat sign (but Yellow Hat is actually the carwash next door, I think). I think this is the gym that used to be Perfect Fitness until it was bought out. I will call it Little Zhangbei.

Little Zhangbei looks to me to be close in quality and size to Fusion Fitness, the on-campus gym; I think Little Zhangbei has a few more machines and a bit more space. It does have a separate “spinning room” with lots of cycles that are available for individual use during the day (classes use the room at night). Also, at least some of the aerobics machines have individual TVs.

As for crowding, the gym was near empty when I visited at about 10 am and again about noon. The attendant said it’s pretty much like that during daytime hours and gets more crowded at night.

“Big Zhangbei” is very nearby, diagonally across the big intersection. It’s on the fifth floor of Tower 2 of the big office building on the corner. Because you have to cross two busy streets and then walk through one building to another, it probably takes another ten minutes to get there from Little Zhangbei. Big Zhangbei has a website, www.zbgym.com, where you can see pictures, but the English language link appears to be non-functional.

Big Zhangbei is a big, modern, impressive, fully-equipped gym. If you are seriously into working out and/or hanging out at the gym, you should go there. It has a huge equipment area with a full assortment of weights and machines, a spinning room, a workout studio, and a pretty big pool. It also has a lounge area with a big-screen TV and three (four?) internet-connected computers for use by members.

Both Zhangbei’s have free classes; Big Zhangbei has more. Unfortunately for me, neither Zhangbei has tai ji quan classes, while the on-campus Fusion Fitness does. However, both Zhangbeis have yoga classes as well as many classes in dance and other activities.

Here are the hours and the costs for a 3-month membership.

Fusion Fitness 7 am to 11 pm 798Y + 50Y signup fee

(on campus) or 30Y for a single visit

Little Zhangbei: 9 am to 10:30 pm 488Y, no signup fee

or you can buy a card for a specific # of visits

Big Zhangbei: 9 am to 10 pm 666, no signup fee (student card*)

or 948, no signup fee (regular card)

or you can buy a card for a specific # of visits

*A student card is limited to use between the hours of 9:00 and 6:45 pm

The card that you use for a specific number of visits can be shared by multiple people, though I think only one person at a time can use it (I’m not sure about that, actually; I didn’t think to ask). The visits have to be completed within a specific number of months. The shared cards at Big Zhangbei are considerably more expensive than the shared cards at Little Zhangbei.

The annual rates are still what Yonitabonita mentioned in her post, 1680/student and 1980/regular.

Memberships can be transferred in all the gyms, I think; Fusion Fitness charges 50Y and I don’t know if the others charge.

As I said, I wrote down quite a bit more information, but you can also call and get it. . I don’t think I should post people’s phone numbers, but if you email me I can give you the contact numbers of the Big and Little Zhangbei salespeople who can communicate in English.

I hope this is useful. I'm still not sure which gym I will join!

[setan]

hi,

it's regarding the fitness center. As you know, Fusion has been moved to another area. Do you know any fitness centre near 地质大学？i know zhang bei but i want to find closer to my area. Probably Wu Dao Kou. thanks man.

[eddie9684]

fusion is open again, but either they are fixing still, or its pretty shitty...

you can get discount if you bring many people along with you i think. its like 1498 per year...

gotta check the other gyms around, hope they are better.

[eddie9684]

anyone knows if Big Zhangbei membership comes with swimming pool facilities or do I have to pay extra for swimming?

because in Fusion Gym at BLCU the swimming pool is separated they told me, what a let down =(