Studio 2006 Gym And Sauna - Shanghai 4

Studio 2006 Gym & Sauna
No. 808 - 2 ZhongShanBei Road
Shanghai
China

Shanghai Metro: Line 1, North Zhongshan Road Station, Exit 1
Go straight 50 meters.  Turn left 80 meters.
Studio 2006 is next to the Lianhua Market.
Ring the bell on the Red Door.

Tel: 86 21 5230 6916
Opening Hours:
Monday to Thursday: 14:00 - 22:00
Friday to Sunday: 12:00 - 22:20
Web: http://www.studio2006.com.cn/

An updated review of this gay sauna, which moved to a new location. Submitted by a reader based in Shanghai, China. (Sub-headings and minor layout changes by FuelMix):

I hope all is well with you. Thanks for your blog. Your philosophies strangely match my own, which is both nicely comforting and a bit sad. You know, because that's what truth does.

Anyway, I'm now a resident of Shanghai so if you need any opinion on that Trying To Be Very Rich Megacity just let me know. 

Allow me to also update you on Shanghai's Studio 2006. They got a brand new location and updated website too. http://www.studio2006.com.cn 

I trolled a bit on the message boards and best I could tell the previous site got into a bit of trouble when someone fainted or something which brought some increased government attention. They shut down for a while but took advantage I think to make a nice new upscale facility, opening with special prices for the National Day/week holidays. 

 

1.   Getting There 

I went on a Sunday night, only a few days after their grand reopening. They still had a special price of 50RMB but I wondered if the word was really out and what kind of people, if any, might be showing up. 

It's actually way easy to find. Take line 1 metro to North Zhongshan Road and leave exit 4. turn left and left again at the corner. You can't miss the place-- there's a huge yellow sign telling you Studio 2006. Seriously. If you are looking for discreet this won't be it, especially since there's a major bus stop on the corner you just passed and tons of foot traffic constantly on the street.

 

2.   Getting In 

You have to ring the bell to let them buzz you inside, then walk up to the second floor. I really like visiting new saunas, because they'll be as clean and fresh as possible. This was no exception. There was pleasant fresh-cut wood smell and eucalyptus incense. The lobby/cashier doubles as the bar, separated by a turnstile more modern than the metro's you just used. You pay for your ticket, which is an RFID card that lets you use the turnstile. Once you are past the turnstile, you receive your towel, rubber slippers, and locker key from the same bar. 

3.   The Layout

(a)  Locker Area - The locker room is just a few steps away. Really it's just a locker area, not a separate room by any means, and very close together. But you're not going to a gay sauna to be shy, I guess. In fact the whole place is both very open and pretty well-lit, which was kind of strange in some ways. Everyone wears their towel and slippers when inside.  

(b)  The Showers - The  showers are off to the side in individual booths with lockable doors and floor-to-ceiling walls, but the walls inside are frosted glass so you can see the outlines of others' bodies if they're showering too. Things get a bit darker here since it's in a corner, and there's some red offset lighting which is nice.  

(c)  The "Gym" - The hallway is filled with exercise machines, with a pool table at the other end, and this is when I think Ah, they must really have to play the front of being a "gym." Also telling me that? The weird vaguely Latin music being pumped in everywhere. Pretty much every wall is floor-to-ceiling mirror, and one time I thought there was another hallway but it was just a trick of the mirrors. 

(d)   The Video Room - On the other side of the machines is the video room, with two dozen chairs and some Chinese talkshow playing. Again, no porn because then it wouldn't be a gym, right?  

(e)   Behind The Video Room - Behind the TV room, the walls are black and it takes more than a first glance to realize there's space back there. The play rooms are back there. About eight, each with space for a cot/bed but not much else. (There's not even room for people to camp outside hoping to claim a room- good!)  

(f)  More Showers and Dry Sauna - There are more shower cubicles (?!) and toilets by the pool table, an unfinished space that must be for internet computers later, as well as the "sauna." That was actually kind of nice, kind of a wooden maze with benches throughout, and just enough dryness/heat to start you sweating but not be uncomfortable. It's a bit too well-lit, I think, but some corners are dark enough.  

(g)   The Play Space - There's also a big area you can get to by ducking under the wall -- a darker area with a few mattresses thrown down unceremoniously. I'm going to call that the Nasty Space. 

4.   The Clientele 

As I said, I was worried it would be too new to really have a good clientele. When I arrived, there was about 20-30 people total. It was almost an even split middle aged and younger, probably upper 20s-upper 30s, and similarly divided plump/slim. Most of the guys were wandering about, a few would use the machines because they got bored, most likely, and a couple were playing pool. 

Some of the younger guys were touching each other in the TV room, but it was more like the banter of a few friends, hardly even sexual. Once, one of the smaller,younger guys hooked up with a rounded daddy type in the sauna, which was funny to see, as the young guy flashed a look to me as if to say "yee-ah, that's right" but no, you guys have fun. I'll move along. 

Once any action starts anywhere, somehow all the trolls appear out of nowhere. With so few people, however, and crowds thinning as the metro closes at 10:30, that doesn't really happen a lot. All of that to say pretty standard Asian bathhouse I think. 

I'm a white guy upper 30s, very jock type with obvious results from my hard work at the gym. So in other words I was standing out and received lots of stares and more than a little attention, wanted and unwanted. Let's just say I did pretty well. I came prepared-- be aware there's no condom or lube provided. 


5.   The Verdict - Would I Go Back...?

Again, fronting as a gym? When you leave you have to return your card and locker key together-- I'm assuming you can use the card to also purchase drinks from the bar, then pay out? The attendant was happy that I left happy, which is always nice to see. He told me to come back on weekends, which he claimed had "almost 200 people" and in my mind I had to wonder if that was even possible given the smallness of the venue. (Later, I learned that the Sunday I came was a "work day" because of the National Holiday later that week. So I guess that wasn't a "weekend?") We'll see, because I'm sure there will be a time when I feel the need for some sauna again. 


FuelMix says:  Thank you for the update.

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