One of the questions that pops up regularly on Chengdu forums is, ¡°Where can I find a good gym in Chengdu?¡± Keeping in mind that ¡°good¡± is a relative term, this overview of some of Chengdu's gyms and fitness clubs should get you pointed in the right direction. You should be aware that most gyms want you to pay for a whole year upfront, so in many cases you'll be making a long term investment, and it's in your best interest to shop around.

Orient Gym
This gym seems to be the most popular with the Chengdu expat community. Orient's location on the third floor of the Great World Carrefour building is convenient for most people who live in Tongzilin or Zijing ¨C you can do your workout, and then pop downstairs to pick up some groceries. It's definitely one of the busiest gyms in Chengdu, so if you arrive at peak times, you're going to have to fight for a treadmill. The dumbbells are rickety, but they go up to 50kg. The benches are pretty solid, but their machines and cables should be better maintained. The locker rooms, showers and bathrooms are reasonably clean most of the time.

Add: 3rd Floor, Great World Carrefour Bldg, Xinguang Lu, Wuhou District, Chengdu
Tel: 028 8519 4949
Web: http://www.cn-orient.com/Club/jiameng_chengdu.asp
Opening hours: 09:00-22:00

Powerhouse Gym
I expected better from the only representative of an American gym franchise in Chengdu. Their original location in Shuangnan actually has decent weights, machines and equipment. They are starting to show their age, but overall it's an okay gym, especially for Chengdu. However, the new location by the river has completely gone in the opposite direction. Rather than continue using Nautilus brand machines like the original location, they switched to the cheesy Chinese/Korean machines that so many other gyms in Chengdu have. They don't have enough plates to share, so if one relatively strong person is doing squats, he could be using ALL of the weights in the whole gym. They do have a pool, but within a few months after opening they had all sorts of mold problems in the pool area, owing to poor planning, maintenance and construction. Verdict: Go to the original location, not the new one.

Shuangnan Branch
Add: 18 Shaoling Lu, Chengdu
Tel: 028 8621 0088
Opening hours: 10:00-22:00

Fushan Branch
Add: 28 Shangcizheng Jie, Qingyang District, Chengdu
Tel: 028 8621 0099
Opening hours: 10:00-22:00

Mega-Fit
Definitely one of the best gyms in Chengdu, Mega-Fit a Hong Kong chain and it is well-built, well-managed and well-equipped. The floors are actually constructed and reinforced the way a gym's floors should be, they have a wide variety of excellent (Cybex, Precor, Stairmaster, Schwinn) equipment to choose from. The layout is a little weird; because it's circular with some open spaces, the machine and free weight areas do feel a little cramped at times. They have hot yoga, as well as regular cardio and spin classes. Since they are managed more like a Western gym, they do have more aggressive sales people than the other gyms. When you give them your number, they will call you. The only down side for me has always been their location, right off of Chunxi Lu. If you live or work downtown, this is probably the best Chengdu gym for your money. They've been promising a location in the south for several years so far, but that has yet to materialize.

Add: Level 5, TOP CITY, No.1 Xiao Kejia Alley, Chengdu
Tel: 028 8665 6908 
Opening hours: 10:00-22:00
Email :chengduclub@megafitchina.com

25 Hour Fitness
I know, it sounds like a rip off, but it's actually a Beijing-managed gym chain, and a really excellent gym. They are just on the north side of downtown, above a Renrenle supermarket. They probably have the most spacious and well-organized gym in Chengdu, although it might just seem more spacious because every time I was there it was practically empty. They have excellent equipment and you never feel cramped or crowded. If you live in the area, I definitely recommend it.

Add: Guangda Guoji Mansion 4th Fl., 2 Caoshi Jie, Chengdu
Tel: 028 8691 9118/8691 6118
Opening hours: 10:00-22:00

The Block
This gym was actually the pet project of the owner of the Macallen building on which it sits. The building is a furniture mall, and the top floor is reserved for the Block Gym. They certainly went the extra mile. On the roof they have basketball, tennis, badminton, pool, ping-pong, martial arts, rock-climbing and a coffee house that makes Lavazza espresso, although the beans aren't usually fresh. They have a decent variety of cardio equipment; the Block is one of the few gyms in Chengdu that has rowing machines. I don't know though why they decided to go with the faux-hardwood floor in the weight machine area ¨C it quickly gets slippery with sweat. Most of their machines are Nautilus brand and very sturdy. A few machines and all their benches are imitations ¨C they clearly just showed the design to a welder and had him whip up a facsimile. Since the fakes were all breaking down within a month of the gym opening, this attempt to save a few bucks backfired. Still, the gym is rarely crowded, and there are enough extras here that I usually love coming here.

Add: 6th Floor, 9 Hongpailou Jialing Lu, Chengdu
Tel: 028 8505-7858
Opening hours: 10:00-22:00

Adiwer
Adiwer is a brand new gym in Tongzilin Europe City that claims to be Australian owned and managed. For cardio, they only have treadmills or the spin room, no other types of machines. The weight machines are a cheesy Chinese brand and don't really have enough weight on the stacks to provide decent resistance. They don't have a decline bench press, or a decline bench for free weights. The dumbbells do go up to 55kg, but you're not allowed to use them because the floor is badly constructed and echoes like a massive drum when you put the weights down, so if you are using anything heavier than 10kg and put it down, the restaurant downstairs will complain about the noise and the trainers will have to make a show of telling you to be quiet with the weights. I know of four people who have quit this gym because they were tired of being told to be quiet with the weights when they were using proper form and technique. (One guy even bought a 2-year membership at Adiwer. On his first day there, he was doing his warm up set of flat-bench dumbbell presses when they bothered him about the sound of him setting the weights down. He just walked out and finished his workout at Orient.) When they first opened, they priced themselves at 3900 RMB for three years. Now they are charging 3900 RMB for one year, 7000 if you want to use the pool. It's the typical idea that people will feel better about paying more, so they can tell all their friends how much they pay to NOT go to the gym. However, they don't offer anything more for the obscene amount of money that they charge.

Add: 7 Tongzilin Nanlu, Chengdu
Tel: 028 8200 9088
Opening hours: 10:00-22:00