Photo via People's Daily

Say goodbye to “let’s go have a drink after work.” Now the new trend is “let’s go hit the gym.”

Hitting the gym is a major trend among university students and white-collar workers nowadays in China. Regular fitness activities and gym memberships are on the rise. Those previously overly-exhausted people now make time to exercise.

In major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, gyms far surpass that of bars and KTVs, according to Dianping.com, a local life information and trade platform. The total number of gyms within China has reached that in the US, with over 46,050 by 2018.

Behind the fervor is reportedly a change of lifestyle among younger generations, observers said. With a fast working pace and mounting pressure from modern life, people are in increasingly urgent need of an outlet and this is where gyms come in handy. Through exercise, heavy psychological loads can be at least temporarily unloaded and physical conditions improved.

In addition to traditional gyms, there is also a rising number of connected gyms and fitness studios, which feature flexible payment options and greater area-effectiveness, these new forms of fitness clubs move behind disturbing sales promotions and guarantee a more customized fitness experience, thus winning more followers.