Chinese bath culture – The old culture of public bathhouse and saunas is threatened by modernization.
One of the oldest saunas in Beijing, 双兴堂, “Shuangxing Tang”, a century-old bathhouse located in Nanyuan, founded by labourer Wang Shuankui, in 1916.
The bathhouse, which occupies two floors, has dozens of regulars, aged 50 to 82, who visit every day.
Nanyuan had been the location of a military barracks during the Qing dynasty. After a period in which the bathhouse was nationalised by the communist government, it was taken over by Xiong Zhizhong in 2003.
The bathhouse was also the set of Zhang Yang‘s movie, Shower.
Photo: Wang Zi
Old Chinese sauna images
Topics: Chinese bathing habits,bathing in China,China bathhouse culture
