China coach goes above and beyond, trains clients at own cost of US$28,000 after gym shuts

When a gym in China closed suddenly, a coach continued training his clients at a cost of over US$28,000, emphasising trust over financial loss, even selling his car.

Photo: SCMP composite/Shutterstock/jiupainews After a gym in central China suddenly closed, leaving its clients unable to receive refunds, one of its fitness coaches completed his 877 classes at his own expense of 200,000 yuan (US$28,000), stating, “Trust is more important than anything else.” The story of the coach, surnamed Zhang, went viral online and garnered half a million likes on social media in China after being reported by Jiupai News in mid-March.

The 29-year-old Zhang previously worked at Aishang Gym in Wuhan, Hubei province, as a personal trainer.

The gym charged members 200 yuan (US$28) per class, with each session lasting for an hour.

In October 2024, the gym unexpectedly closed, and its owner vanished.

At the time, Zhang was training 29 clients, who collectively had 877 classes affected by the gym’s closure.

When the gym closed in October 2024, Zhang was training 29 clients with 877 affected classes.

Photo: Baidu He stated that he and other coaches had not received their salaries for five months before the gym’s shutdown.

The clients could not locate the owner for refunds, and their efforts to safeguard their rights were unsuccessful.

Zhang informed his clients that he was willing to continue teaching them to complete their remaining classes.

Subsequently, he taught his clients at a nearby gym until early March, when all his classes were completed.

During this period, Zhang had to personally cover the venue rental fee, which was 100 yuan per hour.

Some clients chose not to continue with the classes and sought refunds.

Zhang redeemed their payments on behalf of the gym’s owner.

Zhang spent over 200,000 yuan from his own savings over the past two years, during which he had no income.

Despite financial challenges, Zhang took responsibility for his clients’ training without defaulting on them.

Photo: Baidu A middle-aged female client, who had been training with Zhang since 2019, had 80 classes affected by the gym’s closure. “Zhang told us he would continue teaching us as before.

He reassured us.

I felt secure then,” the woman was quoted as saying. “He is an upstanding person.

I trust him completely.

He will not abandon us.” Zhang mentioned that he sold his car last year due to financial pressure, as he also has a house loan. “In the past 15 months or so, I have f

原文链接: 南华早报