Forums > Living in Kunming > Recent visit to the big four gyms near Ren Min Zhong Lu. I recently arrived in KunMing and immediately took to the forums for gym advice. I visited what seems to be the big four near Ren Min Zhong Lu, here's what I discovered from best to worst:
1)Hao Heng has very friendly staff, lots of excellent equipment, a diverse array of classes, and plenty of free weights to make anybody happy. Everything looked new and very well taken care of. The price was still more than I have ever paid for a membership to any gym in the states, 414RMB, but this gym trumped all of the others for all-around quality and value. Also, this was just a base price and I will go try to haggle with them tomorrow.
2)Powerhouse has good equipment and seems to be well taken care of, but the price was pretty steep without bargaining. Initial price for one month (I may only be here for a month) was 780RMB!!! Again, this was just the base price. Hao Heng is still better all around.
3)Surmount had a guy walking around with no shirt on and he wasn't very ripped or yolked. I guess that is possibly a sign of things to come? Anyways, this gym was mediocre at best and the highlight was a pretty good quantity of free weights. The staff was friendly and I actually had an interpreter with me this time, so I decided to haggle. Not even a penny of give from the base price of 300RMB for one month. While that was tied, with Morning, for the lowest price I found, it was still more than the gym is worth. I would still choose Surmount over Powerhouse solely based on the price difference.
4)Morning was the last gym I checked and made it to number four on my list for a reason. The free weight section was the smallest of all gyms. I must say though, their machines were in pretty good condition and they had a good selection. If you're in it for machines, Morning is better than Surmount in my opinion. The staff was nice and they also wanted 300RMB per month.
When choosing based on price, remember that the yearly rate is a very good deal at all the gyms except Powerhouse. I believe the yearly was 1000RMB for Morning and Surmount, 1200RMB for Hao Heng, and an absurd 4000RMB for Powerhouse. You can always haggle for yearly memberships because thats how they make the real money.
Another note, Hao Heng was the only gym that didn't have the free weights scattered all over the gym. What's the deal with the staff at these places? They are just standing around anyways, why not do something worth a damn? Maybe, make a couple signs asking customers to return the weights they use to the racks? Or, wait for it, do it yourself because that is supposed to be your job! Ridiculous! Anyways, I hope this helps some people and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
