Laundry at a Chinese Wushu School

If you ever played with the thought of going to China to learn wushu at a school like Song Jiang, you probably already worried about your laundry. A reasonable concern, because you will sweat a lot and the climate is sandy. Unfortunately most wushu schools and universities in China don't offer a good laundry service. Most students wash their clothes with the hands. This can be very annoying. Especially is you are bringing your favorite T-shirts and when you hang them up to sun-dry them, they mysteriously disappear. The best would be a coin laundry, but unless you are visiting a wushu school in a big city, you will not be able to enjoy such a service. Song Jiang located in a small city (1.200.000 inhabitant) and doing the landry can be quite a stressor. For more articles about wushu training in China, click here.

More: Laundry at a Chinese Wushu School

  • It depends on your budget how comfortable your laundry will be. If you have a high budget for your trip, you could buy a washing machine and a dryer and ask somebody to install them in your bathroom. But that would cost at least 300 USD and if you are not staying for a long time, that's wasted money. If you want somebody to do your laundry, you can either ask a private person outside the school or go to a laundry in Yun Cheng. The private person will probably be cheaper, but it will still cost you a few hundred yuan per month (20 to 50 USD) and your clothes will possibly never get washed well. Usually there is no laundry service, but if you ask Li Chen when you are in China, I am sure he can organize something for your. However, the laundry is usually not included in the school fee. So you will have to pay extra. Most foreigners who go to Song Jiang just buy a bath tub like the Chinese students and wash their clothes with the hands.
  • How often you have to wash your clothes:
    You will sweat 2 or 3 times per day. It will be ok if you wash your pants every second day, but you should have a clean and dry shirt before every workout. During the winter months you can train the entire day (2 to 3 workouts) with the same shirt, but in the summer it is extremely hot and air humidity goes up to 90 percent. After a short run your shirt will be just a wet rag. Besides, the climate is quite sandy in Yun Cheng, so if you train outside, you should do your laundry every day or even after every training. It will only take you a few minutes to wash the shirt you used in your last workout.

Advice: Laundry at a Chinese Wushu School

  • Always wash 2 or 3 shirts at once. When it rains you will need something clean and dry too.
  • Sun-dry your cloth on a cord on the window or in the inner courtyard of the hotel. If you dry your stuff outside, somebody could steal your favorite T-shirts.
  • If you do your laundry yourself, it will cost you approximately 2 USD per month. If you pay a private person, you will have to pay 20 to 50 USD per month. You can also ask a big laundry from Yun Cheng to pick up your clothes in the school once or twice a week. I think that will cost between 30 and 60 USD per month. Washer and a dryer cost 300 to 400 USD, but you will have to ask the school if they allow you to have those in your bathroom. If you don't stay long enough they might say no.
  • Even if you plan to pay somebody to do your laundry, you will have to wash your socks and your underwear yourself. I don't know how much you would have to pay extra so that somebody washes your dirty socks. Actually I never tried to find out. Some laundries won't even wash your socks with their washing machine.
  • If you really hang on a shirt, don't bring it to China. You will wash it to death and the risk that somebody will steal it, is quite high.