Shanghai and Kunming
 

Hi guys ... I know this is off topic... but the forum for China is dead and few listings here too.

I will go to Kunming and Shanghai for 3 weeks. Looking for any action really but especially interested in the Chinese bath house scene. I went to one really hidden local place in Beijing once ... only foreigner there ... and had the time of my life! So hoping to repeat the expereince over and over .... any advice?

Thanks.

Shanghai, Shenzen and Guangzhou are today the main 'gay' cities of China. Beijing is there but nothing as active or as open as the three cities mentioned.

Shanghai has great discos and bars, and you can meet many horny locals who are ready to play and quite a few can speak 'enough' to 'advanced' English (English language capability is skyrocketing across much of China). Beware of course of the sprinkling of money boys.

There are also many saunas which are very active but I'm out of date (my work assignments across China finished about 18 months ago, which is a long time in terms of saunas coming and going). Utopia is usually fairly reliable for details, or perhaps even make personal contact with one of the recent contributors to the Utopia site for some more up to date comment.

In all three cities I mentioned, plus Kunming, there are numerous M4M massage services, and again Utopia is a good starting point. Like all such services in any country service is a roller coaster, from rip-off to outstanding. If you call one of the agencies listed on Utopia and they don't speak english, then don't give up, many do have English speaking 'captains'. I made contact with one delightful young massage man on one of these sites in Shanghai who turned out to be a medical student, he speaks advanced English, very sincere and we have since developed a close friendship (not relationship - he has a long-term lover, another medical student, who I have met many times and they have a delightful close relationship).

Selection by photograph is of course a lottery but many of these services, especially in Shenzen and Guangzhou also have venues very similar to HERO club and similar in Bangkok. For some reason they don't seem to openly say this on their websites.

Good luck.

Xfun..now I want to go to China!

For Fizzydick, did you look on Gayromeo..quite a few entries show up in Shanghai...and presumably speak some English for guiding purposes at least.

Getting around in shanghai
 

When I was there I printed the 'contact' page of the venue I wanted to visit, then cut out the actual address, in Chinese of course, plus the phone number.

Shanghai 4 and 5 star hotels (maybe also 3 star) have excellent concierge staff who speak pretty good English, always very helpful and very polite, in most cases they wrote the address in English for me then called the number to get a close landmark for the taxi driver. Hotels have access to street maps on line and they use this to double check Chinese to English translation etc. Many times the venue asked for an approximate time that I would arrive and a staff member would be waiting for the taxi on the footpath outside.

Buses are workable and the underground is also not that difficult. Again conciege staff very helpful and many have excellent bus / underground maps. Things like this are very well developed in Shanghai.

Numerous times I stayed in a 4 star hotel in Shanghai called the 'Merry Rendezvous', good hotel, very modern, very central location . There's a bus stop right outside and many times the concierge staff would write my destination etc in Chinese characters, then one of the young bellboys (always full of smiles and so keen to be helpful) would put me on the bus and tell the driver my destination. It always worked and always a smile from the driver, and the vast majority of buses are very modern.

I should mention that in the clubs and bars the majority of locals are looking for other Chinese and visiting Singaporeans are very popular, but of course there's also quite a few who want to meet westerners. I also found that in the clubs and bars you can meet many young professional people who are quite willing to talk to you but not interested in anything more.

It's well worth a visit.

Buses require you to put the fare in exact money in the box-1 CNY for old-non AC and 2 for the newer AC. The SHai metro is developing at breakneck speed-see urbanrail.net for maps.
ANY Chinese city has very cheap and quite good maps with all the buslines etc-the smaller the city-the better workable. But most are in Chinese only. Also remember; very soon the World-Expo will open in SHai-the whole city is being spruced up and rebuilt-and prices will go up during it.

Shanghai Pu Dong Airport has been rebuilt / upgraded / enlarged several times in the last decade and today it's up with the best in the world. Passport, customs, check-in etc., very efficient, very helpful, and very friendly.

Also worth a try, at least one time, is the Shanghai Maglev Airport express; 33 kilometres in 8 minutes, top speed 432 KHP.

Thanks
 

Many thanks, guys for useful input. Really looking to explore the bath house/sauna scene in Shiang Hai so looking for recommendations for venues to find and will report back here on the delights or disappointments.

Planning to stay in teh Bund area. Barron Hotel.

I want to suggest you also take a look at our listings here at 'Cruising for Sex'. We've got several for Shanghai and a few other cities around China. Of course we hope you'll also help update our listings with your own thoughts when you return! Especially needed is info for Kunming. We'd love to add your updates and tips for China.

Shanghai:
http://listings.cruisingforsex.com/e...shanghai-9665/

All of China:
http://listings.cruisingforsex.com/elsewhere/china-818/

Kunming Lanse Didai
 

Kunming Lanse Didai - Head south along Hueng Cheng East Rd, which becomes Hueng Cheng South Rd after the major intersection Dong Jiao Rd. Continue South. Past the China Mobile Hotel on the right. Cross over the intersection with Cha Street and continue south another 100 m or so. To the left you will see McDonalds, Hydro Hotel and finally Gome shop. Roughly opposite Gome there is a small car park fringed with small trees along the front. Turn right into the first entrance to the car park. Once inside, turn 90 left. You will see ahead an unmarked 4-storey building, painted dark blue (hence English name Blue Zone), with a large open doorway. No sign. Enter and go up the stairs. On the first floor is a bar Lanse Didai. After 10 pm, it attracts a crowd of cute young guys, tables that glow blue, lip syncing TV’s, very smokey, very loud Chinese pop. Go up the stairs one more floor to reach the reception counter of Tong Le Yuan Sauna. Entrance 45 Yuan, exchange your shoes for slippers. Ask the guys in the locker room for a robe. There’s open showers and a dry sauna, which seethes with action after it’s switched on about 10 pm. A large area with a bar and beds, lined up facing a TV which shows Chinese soap operas. Chatting, smoking, cuddling and sometimes much more goes on there, sometimes open, but usually hidden beneath duvets. Upstairs are small open cubicles, but the partitions are only 1.5 m high so not exactly private. Best at weekends after 9 pm.

Thanks fizzcock, great report, great style.

I've had success in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou using "GayRomeo" but to access it in PRC you have to google "Planet Romeo."

Its the same site but "Gay " must be filtered/blocked in PRC.

Of course all the guys using Planet Romeo are competent in English .