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.

I got one year membership in Morning fitness in October 2011 for 620rmb(Knew people that got cheaper) They also had a deal 2 months later 1000rmb for 3 years membership. A thousand for morning for one year is way too much.

In July 2010 I got 2 years membership for 1200 in Surmount. The rate I was told recently was 1400 for 2 years and 1100 for one year. Im sure it could be cheaper or more expensive depending who you ask.

This is China, everything can be haggled down. As I stated, these were the base prices that they provided me, on laminated flyers, without any attempt to barter. I'm only trying to give people a general reference of what prices one should expect them to start with.

Also, I am only looking for one month, so they are going to be a lot less willing to lower their outlandish prices for a laowai only wanting a short membership.

I have read many of the forums with people stating the prices they got, but they are all staying for one year or more. I'm going to look into hotel gyms next and I'll post again later with my findings.

i'm at haoheng at the moment and i totally agree it's a great gym - the staff are all so friendly, the equipment is very new and in perfect order, and the place is generally well presented. and they have a sauna in the changing room. the only thing i don't like about it is that they don't have a punchbag, which for me is a big minus. i paid 800 for 6 months with them. in fact i paid an extra 200 so i can use the beijing road branch as well - that gym is actually a real shit hole but it's very close to my place (also, they have badminton courts there if you're into that).

i used to go to surmount and although it's a pretty good gym you do get a lot of steroid junkies walking around shirtless, and the atmosphere isn't as welcoming as haoheng (although i wouldn't call it unwelcoming).

i checked out powerhouse and couldn't believe they were asking nearly three times as much as haoheng, but didn't seem to be any better equipped. in fact some of the equipment looked pretty old. jokers.

yeah if you only book for a month you'll definitely get ripped off.

Thanks for the review! It's really helpful.

Do you have the address of Hao Heng gym by any chance?

haoheng is on renmin zhong road just opposite the macdonalds (on the same side of the road). it's in the building with the big video screen, on the 5th floor.

I do not know the address, but it's on the fifth floor of the Sunning building. Follow Ren Min Zhong east towards the river, it is on the left one or two streets prior to the bridge crossing over the river. I hope this helps.