Eighty-three-year-old Yang Hongzeng is also a regular visitor to the fitness club, and believes exercise is the key to a healthy body and mind.

"I had heart issues before, and it was hard for me to even walk down stairs myself," Yang told Beijing Review. "After exercising here, I have lower cholesterol and more stable blood pressure. I also walk much faster. And my neighbors said I now have the spirit of a young person. Exercising is a lifestyle for me. I had surgery on my left leg a short while ago. After I recovered from it, I've exercised here at least an hour a day."

According to Xu, the fitness club was the brainchild of Zhang Wei, a PE teacher at the locomotive industry's technical school. Zhang, also a keen long-distance runner, established the club after retiring in 1987 in the hope of attracting more people to keep fit.

The club was free at the beginning and most of its equipment at that time was all self-made by the workers of the locomotive factory.