Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, September 18 – I thought that before the summer is over here I’d explain swimming pools in China. First of all, these pictures are NOT what your average swimming pool in China looks like…..why? because there are NO people other than us! This is the swimming pool where we live, but it’s only the third time we’ve gone! When we’ve been before, there were other people, but tonight is a school night and work night and I guess that makes a difference, although there were some other people who came as we were leaving. Swimming pools in China often have unusual hours, ours is open from 3PM-6PM, then again from 7PM to 10PM. The Chinese don’t like to be out in the sun, so there are not usually morning and early afternoon hours. You don’t have to live in a housing ‘garden’ to use the pool, you may pay a little more than the residents, but anyone willing to pay the price is allowed to swim from what I’ve been told. You can usually buy a pass for discounted rates. Where we live, it is 20rmb/$3usd per time, but if you buy a pass with 30 visits, it is then only 15rmb per swim. I’ve never yet seen a diving board at any of the pools I’ve been to in China, there seem to always be special kiddie pools though. You see that we’re wearing swim caps, required at our pool, but it’s the first time for us, we never needed them in Shenzhen. Another different thing is the lack of lounge chairs, remember, the Chinese don’t like to be in the sun, so you don’t see anyone (other than foreigners!) laying around in the sun, they don’t spend the day at the pool, they go for a swim and go home. If you haven’t seen a picture of a crowded swimming pool in China, check this out: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1789565/fancy-a-swim-chinese-swimming-pool-is-so-packed-you-cant-even-see-the-water/
Baby Spas
Life in China 2016: A Picture A Day, September 14 – We saw baby spas where we lived when we first came to China in 2009-2011, but I never saw them the whole time we lived in Shekou. I always thought the babies looked so relaxed and happy in the water, so I was happy to see a couple of baby spas in Dongcheng yesterday, unfortunately, there was just one older child in a pool at the time. The babies have a type of ring that is fitted around their neck so their head stays above water. The sign for the one we saw yesterday says it is for ages up to 6 years old, and offers bubble baths, water play, water therapy and music. The spa pictures are from yesterday, but the actual baby in the water was from 2009.
I decided to check online and see if there are any in the USA, and found that a franchise started in Texas in 2014! For all of my friends with babies, grandbabies, or if you’re just curious, they have a nice video about baby spas. http://floatbabies.com/