Studio 2006 - Shanghai 3

1639 Huashan Road, No. 10 or

2006 Huaihai Middle Road No. 10

Shanghai

People's Republic Of China

Tel: +86 21 5230 6916

Web: http://www.studio2006.com.cn/

Received from a reader today (Side headings and paragraph spacings added by FuelMix for clarity):

Hey there! I recently visited Shanghai and thought you might like to add a review for a sauna I tried out while there.

Internet Censorship Warning

!!Warning to anyone going to China: do your research on any saunas you might like to visit BEFORE you go to China. The internet censorship makes looking up information very difficult as many blog sites and other social media do not work (including your very own blog)!!

Getting There

I went to Studio 2006 on 10 April 2012 and had an interesting experience. It was slightly difficult to find the place (you have to walk through an alley and it's between some residences) and the entrance is a little sketchy looking, but unassuming for discretion as I was later informed. There are two method little alleys you can take to find it, with addresses listed on their site, but the first address is easiest as you just follow the sidewalk to get there.  

FuelMix says:  Not sure what the hell you're saying in the above paragraph..... 

Subsequent Clarification From The Reader About Getting There

Sorry, it's a confusing thing (it took me awhile to find it) and I didn't make any sense the way I typed it. I meant that the [web] site gives you two addresses to reach the place. However, I would go with the first one as you are less likely to get lost because you just follow the sidewalk and will get to it. The second address takes you to an alley that leads to some residential buildings and you have to know to turn left and walk a bit and notice the unassuming sign. I took the second address the first time and got lost, then had to retry with the first.

Layout Of The Place

After I paid my 80RMB entrance fee (almost 100HKD) and changed into a towel I took a look around. As for the actual place, it was set-up very strangely. If you like any sort of privacy when you do your thing, good luck getting it. There are two shower halls, one of which has larger stalls intended for play. It was kind of cool because the walls were a one way mirror, meaning that you could watch people walk by as you did your thing, but they couldn't see you. However, the walls did not go up to the ceiling and as I later discovered men will stand on objects so they can see over and watch what your doing. 

There are a maze of other poorly lit rooms and hallways, including a gym with a ton of weights and a bar that will serve you some coke or some really basic drinks for an extra charge. It also had a sauna and a dark room (pitch black) within the sauna, where most of the men were located and a place to do your hair and fix yourself up when you left.

The Clientele

As for the people, they were slightly different than the people I've met at the saunas here in HK. Now let me preface this by saying I am a young white man (which apparently is a fetish for quite a lot of people in Asia), so everyone's experience from here may not be the same. However, I have never in my entire life received so much weird attention before. When I first walked in, literally every single person I saw stared at me and did creepy smiles and winks. Most of the men were older, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it did add to the creepy vibe I got. 

At least they were "polite" and didn't grab at me while I sat at the bar area, but more than a few followed me around and would just stand nearby and look at me, waiting for me to go into the dark areas. Once in the dark areas, they all had a go. It got so bad, that I had to retreat into the bar for awhile until they lost interest.

Luckily the bar attendant was quite nice. He got me a couple drinks (only charged for one) and let me know about a bar nearby that was known for having a younger and attractive crowd and even gave directions. I did manage to meet a really attractive 30-something Chinese man, but when we got into one of the bigger shower stalls and got started, more than one little Asian head popped up over the walls. The guy ended up saying he needed privacy in order to have fun and invited me to dinner, but I had to decline and we exchanged numbers.

Eventually I caved and just went into the sauna area, sat in the lit room, and let anyone that was brave enough to do anything have a go until I was done, which is fun in it's own right I suppose.

Reader's Opinion

In my opinion, the saunas I've visited (Alexander, Houzz) in HK are set up better, a little cleaner, and the people in them are a bit nicer on average. There were about 20 guys there when I went, but the bar attendant told me if I came back on the weekend there would be three times as many. Anyone visiting Shanghai may want to give it a try as long as you aren't too attached to privacy.  

I don't believe the place is open 24 hours.
 
FuelMix says:   

Thanks for the update and the clarification.   

There's no shortage of aggressive peeping Toms in gay saunas in Very Rich Megacity either.   Voyeurism is a major cultural thing around here. 

You should have asked the Staff what kind of foreigners show up and when. 

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