Zhang, 67, used to commute more than an hour by bus to complete his daily ritual, but two years ago he moved to within walking distance.
The retired factory worker, head shaved and missing all but two of his front teeth, now lives alone in a small room. His bathroom has a toilet and a sink, but no shower.
"If I'm at home, I'm not happy; I'm lonely," Zhang said, sitting with only a white towel around his waist. "But then I come here and talk to friends, read the newspaper, or play chess."
Zhang grew up frequenting bathhouses, but one by one, they have been replaced by modern spas in upscale hotels that help define today's Beijing. The new ones cost 180 yuan ($27) and up, compared with the eight-yuan entrance fee at Shuangxing. Beyond the high prices, says Shuangxing's owner, Xiong Zhizhong, are larger issues.
"I've been to Bali to see what a Western spa is like," said Xiong, who often washes in his own bathhouse. "They don't use natural light, there's no socializing, and there are too many creams and soaps. It's so artificial."
Traditional bathhouses similar to Shuangxing, which was built in 1916, became popular in the 17th century, when specialized bricks were imported from Europe. Almost all were for men only.
Bathhouses were a destination for people from all walks of life who would mingle without being subject to the rigid hierarchies of the outside world.
"There wasn't a separation between common people and nobility," said Zhao Shu, a retired member of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Program. "Once you take your clothes off, everyone is the same."
Beijingers young and old spend hours wrapped in white towels, playing chess or singing patriotic songs.
