Being on the road doesn't mean you have to give up your healthy lifestyle. With all the mouth-watering dishes Xi'an offers, there are even more reasons for keeping up with your training routine. From state-of-the-art fitness centres to a traditional Tai Chi school, we scoured the city to give you plenty of choices and no excuse.

 

1) High-end fitness club - MegaFit
For a high-end fitness club, MegaFit is the perfect choice. Boasting to be the largest facility in the entire Northwest region of China, the MegaFit branch just south of the Bell Tower dominates 3000 m2 of prime real estate and provides a unique women-only workout area. Full-time staff includes 20 trainers for both group exercises as well as personal body training. They are mostly graduates from the Xi'an University of Physical Education and can instruct in both Mandarin and English. Well-equipped with Nautilus machines, free weights, Stairmasters and treadmills, MegaFit is the number one fitness retreat for its 3000 members to date.

Naturally, with great service comes great expense. So for those seeking a world-class facility for strengthening muscles or toning up, you can expect an annual membership fee of 3198 RMB, or a monthly fee of 500 RMB. Personal trainers cost between 200-300 RMB per hour. The hardest thing however is not the workout but finding a parking spot, since it's smack in the centre of the city.

MegaFit 美格菲 View In Map
Add: 80 Nan Dajie, Xi’an
地址：西安市南大街80号
Tel: 029 8727 6688
Opening hours: Mon-Fri, 08:00-22:00; Sat-Sun, 09:00-21:00
Website: www.megafitxa.com

2) Tennis courts, ping pong, badminton – Zhuque Tennis
In the concrete jungle of downtown Xi'an, spotting a tennis game is as rare as spotting a hawk. Luckily, perched on the north side of the Shaanxi Province Stadium is the Vermilion Bird Tennis Club (Zhuque Tennis). Founded in 1998, Zhuque Tennis has been making this otherwise little known game popular to the residents of Xi'an. Open from 08:00 to 23:00, Monday through Sunday, this tennis club offers two indoor courts and seven rooftop hard-surface courts. During peak periods such as weekends, holidays or workdays after 16:00, the indoor courts cost 998 RMB per hour and the outdoor ones cost 200 RMB. A better deal would be to avoid these peak periods and go when indoor courts cost half the price while outdoor playing costs 150 RMB.

If you want to switch up your game and explore another net sport, Zhuque is where you will find the best ping pong and badminton players in town. With 32 courts, Zhuque has held countless badminton classes as well as more than 100 competitions in the past decade. Join a pick-up game and work on that smash of yours! Perhaps you’ll find yourself a champ in more than just tennis.

Zhuque Tennis 朱雀网球中心 View In Map
Add: 14 Changan Bei Lu, Beilin District, Xi’an
地址：西安长安北路14号
Tel: 029 8523 5425 or 029 8522 6189
Opening hours: Mon-Sun, 08:00-23:00

3) Fitness and dance – Yate Sports Club
Also near the Shaanxi Province Stadium, the Yate Sports Club is a trendy fitness centre with mid-level pricing. Compared to MegaFit, Yate is a smaller, but more versatile facility. Occupying a two-story building, this chic little retreat offers 50 cardio machines imported from Italy and a wide array of exercise programmes. Yate's full-time staff includes certified body trainers as well as dance instructors and you can choose to combine muscle-strengthening exercises with a more vibrant cardio activity. Moreover, the second floor dance studio offers lessons in ballet, samba, Latin as well as breakdancing.

Started as a badminton and ping pong club, Yate currently has nine branches scattered throughout Xi'an. Some of them remained as net sports clubs while others evolved into fitness centres. Depending on your location and preference, you can choose to purchase either a selective membership or a comprehensive one. The fees run between 1000-2500 RMB per year based on your membership type. Best of all, to offer more flexibility, Yate Sports Club offers a one-card-for-all policy, so you can check out their other locations as well.

Yate Sports Club 亚特健身中心View In Map
Add: No. 14 Changan Bei Lu, Beilin District, Xi’an
地址：西安市碑林区长安北路14号
Tel: 029-84037788
Opening hours:Mon-Fri,09:00-22:00; Sat-Sun, 09:00-21:00
Website: www.sxyate.net

4) Fitness and yoga – Zennis Yoga
Dim light on quaint wooden paneling and soft coloured pebble tile walls sets the very atmosphere for Zen and yoga. Enter and remove your shoes. Escape the dust and noise of an urban centre. Although Zennis is established by the same company head as MegaFit, it is built on a different model. With only 520 m2 and 380 members, Zennis Yoga is more of a community than a club. Their seven full-time bilingual instructors are trained in Shanghai at the Y+ Yoga Centre, and they offer both group as well as private lessons.

Focusing on the Ashtanga Vinyasa style, Zennis classes include Pranayama (the art of breath control), partner yoga and Kryoga (Kamal’s rhythmic yoga) among others. Each class run between 60-90 minutes and has 13-18 students. Zennis also has a hot yoga room for those seeking a total body cleanse at 38-42°C. For all this and fruits with jasmine tea afterwards, you may acquire a membership at approximately 5000 RMB per year or a 30-visits pass at 2700 RMB. For those wanting personal training, one-to-one lessons cost 200-300 RMB per hour. And when you're all worn out and feeling sore at the end of your workout, take the elevator down to the 3rd floor to the Zennis spa.

Zennis Yoga静思瑜珈 View In Map
Add: 5F, 5 Gaoxin Lu, Xi’an
地址：西安市高新路5号5楼
Tel: 029 8832 6688

5) Tai Chi – Chen Quanzhong Tai Chi School
Tucked away in a little nook behind the Shaanxi Province Stadium is a Chen-style Tai Chi school founded by a direct descendent of Chen Wangting. Wangting is one of the major contributors to Tai Chi and the progenitor of the Chen-style Tai Chi. The other four family styles (Yang, Wu, Wu/Hao and Sun) all developed from the Chen-style. Obscured by the modern fitness centres, Chen Quanzhong Tai Chi School is a quiet little 2nd floor hideaway for those interested in learning this ancient Chinese martial art.

Open seven days a week, 07:00-21:00 every day, Chen Quanzhong School has 10 Tai Chi masters and offers 5-6 classes each day. Besides traditional Tai Chi, the masters are also well versed in weaponry, such as sword, cutlass, staff, halberd and fan. A monthly pass costs 680 RMB and a yearly membership card costs 2680 RMB. For business travelers who may have irregular schedules, the best deal is probably a 30-class pass for 1080 RMB.

Chen Quanzhong Tai Chi School陈全忠太极拳学校 View In Map
Add: 14 Changan Bei Lu, Beilin District, Xi’an
地址：西安市碑林区长安北路14号
Tel: 029 8522 7186
Website: www.chenxili.com

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