Making the best of a bad situation

Before I started interviewing people who visit the gym at midnight, the notion that someone with a daytime job would prefer to exercise late at night seemed unreal and farfetched.

I was tricked into a five-year membership at a gym within 1 kilometer of my home, but I seldom visit because going to the gym has never been a comfortable experience for me.

As a result, I could never understand how people who have to work late still find the energy and time to endure intense physical exercise.

However, on the three occasions I visited different small 24-hour gyms in the early hours, I ran into more than 30 people.

After talking with them, I began to understand the unique magic of these places-they help to heal the wounds of a busy urban life.

Something about the darkness at night has the power to help people reflect on what happened during the day and forget about unhappy events.

Xiao Yu, who often goes to the gym at midnight, said she stayed there overnight one time after her boyfriend broke up with her.

She arrived at the gym at 11 pm, and exercised for more than two hours as she tried to forget about the breakup.

As she was exhausted and the only person left in the gym, she felt there was no need to go home, so she stayed all night.

"Surprisingly, I had a very good sleep; perhaps I was too sad or too tired. The next morning, I felt renewed, as though nothing had happened," she said.

People also told me how they felt they had to let off steam after being scolded by their boss, losing their job, or having a big fight with loved ones.

Some people go to the gym simply because they have nothing to do after work. Many are beipiao (drifters), who have left their hometowns to find work in the capital.

They are usually young people who do not have many friends in the city and cannot afford other more-expensive recreational activities. Going to the gym seems like a good way to improve themselves and make changes.

Their lives are not always easy, and what they are doing by squeezing the little spare time they have to exercise at midnight is trying to make the best of a bad situation.