Latest in exercise: the mini-gym

A man exercises in a mini-gym in Beijing on Thursday. LIU HONGSHENG/FOR CHINA DAILY

Mini-gyms, which can be rented by the minute and booked using a smartphone, are springing up around Beijing, the latest addition to the so-called sharing economy.

Each is about 4 square meters and contains a treadmill or exercise bike, a TV and an air conditioner.

Seven of the one-person gyms have been installed by a company called Misspao; another company, Doubar, has opened two. They can be rented via an app or by scanning a QR code. Charges range from 1 yuan to 16 yuan (15 US cents to $2.40) per hour.

The Zhongtaiyaxuan community has two Misspao gyms. But a 39-year-old man who gave only his surname, Han, said he felt they are too small and he would feel uncomfortable using them.

"It only provides a treadmill instead of other sorts of sports equipment," the 39-year-old said. His notion of a gym includes a changing room, restroom and shower.

Misspao doesn't offer full service, but it's convenient, putting equipment on people's doorsteps, CEO Bi Zhen told Beijing Youth Daily.

A 40-something resident of the Zhongtaiyaxuan community, who gave her surname as Zhang, told China Daily that this kind of gym may appeal more to the younger generation, rather than the middle-aged, because "young people are more interested in new stuff like this, a new way of exercising". A property management officer in the Zhongtaiyaxuan community in Chaoyang district said he's noticed that people in their 20s and 30s, especially women, like to use the shared gyms in the evening.

Jiang Chenglong contributed to this story.