There is a collective sharp intake of breath at most of China's fitness clubs once a year when their marketing departments report the membership retention rate. On average, only 20 percent of members renew.
US economist Paul Zane Pilzer predicted in his 2002 bestseller The Wellness Resolution that preventative medicine and fitness will be the next billion-dollar industry.
While most international investors view making money from China's burgeoning fitness market as something akin to trying to eat soup with chopsticks, British entrepreneur Walter MacDonald has already taken a large spoon to the industry.
There is a collective sharp intake of breath at most of China's fitness clubs every year when their marketing departments report the membership retention rate. On average, only 20 percent of members renew.
Twenty years after modern fitness centers appeared in China, the market is still in its infancy and going through a reshuffle.
The desire for fitness is booming in China, but as more and more open, the sector is also becoming highly competitive.
Chinese people celebrate the fourth National Fitness Day with various sports exercises on August 8, 2012.
Gyms across Beijing have seen a spike in new members, as residents are inspired to get in shape by Olympic heroes such as badminton ace Lin Dan.
Getting our sedentary, overweight children off the couch is a challenge. The Nintendo Wii game console offered the prospect of getting children to exercise without even leaving home.
Wang, a former medical student at the Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, quit school in 2001 and then started to study pole dancing.
The curtains rose on Sunday on the first Shanghai Citizens Sports Meeting - an event intended to help everyone get fit.
At first glance, the brightly lit gym looks no different from any other in Beijing: high ceilings, a dance floor and wall-to-wall mirrors. Drum rhythms warm up the class.
The Dalian Citizen Fitness Center has been put into operation in downtown Dalian on April 23, 2012.
The 2012 Chinese International Beauty, Hairdressing & Cosmetics Expo starts in Beijing on April 17, 2012
A growing desire by men for "six-pack" abdominal muscles is costing them time and money.
More than 60 percent of Tsinghua University candidates failed to pass basic physical fitness tests.
People's fitness now takes pole position ahead of hunt for Olympic glory.
Losing fitness or packing on fat with age can both be bad for the heart - but avoiding either one of those fates may protect the ticker, a study published on Monday suggests.
A competitor poses during the Fitness and Bodybuilding European Championships in Budaors, 10 km west of Budapest, June 12, 2011.
Urban white collar women reflect a huge rise in those joining health centers and gyms in first- and second-tier cities, thanks to a rising awareness of the importance of keeping fit and staying healthy.
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