The public bathhouse is a genuinely popular Chinese institution, and in a northern city like Xi'an it is used year-round by ordinary people rather than by visitors. The premise is simple: you pay at the desk, take a locker key, shower, and then make your way through a series of hot pools and steam rooms at different temperatures, sit, sweat, cool down and repeat. It is closer to a Finnish or Turkish bathing culture in its social function than to a hotel spa, and the cost is a fraction of what a Western visitor would expect.
What a visit involves
Beyond the pools, most bathhouses offer a body scrub, where an attendant works over your back and limbs with a rough cloth mitt and leaves you with skin you did not know you had; a massage, either oil or a firmer Chinese style working on pressure points; and often a foot treatment. There is usually a sauna and a steam room, and a large lounge with reclining chairs and small televisions where people rest, drink tea and sleep for an hour or more. Larger establishments add a restaurant, a bar, a games room and, in a few cases, a swimming pool. Everything is charged separately and added to your key number, settled on the way out.
Etiquette
Mixed pools are used in swimwear if the bathhouse has them; single-sex areas require nothing. Shower before entering any shared pool, which is a firm rule rather than a suggestion. Towels are provided, slippers almost always, and toiletries usually. Phones are unwelcome around the water and in the pools. Attendants will indicate what to do without much language, and there is no need to book a scrub or massage in advance except at weekends.
Practical notes
Take your own swimwear if the establishment has mixed facilities, and a small bag for wet things. Women's and men's areas are entirely separate, which is worth knowing if you are visiting as a couple expecting to stay together. Weekday afternoons are quiet and cheap; weekend evenings are busy. The larger bathhouses in Xi'an run late, some of them through the night, and a visit of two to three hours is normal. It is one of the least expensive ways to spend an afternoon in the city, and one of the few experiences that has little to do with sightseeing.
