Taipei: Detailed Description of Saunas and Gay Hot Spring

Anything and everything about gay life anywhere in the world, especially Asia, other than Thailand.
Post Reply
fountainhall

Taipei: Detailed Description of Saunas and Gay Hot Spring

Post by fountainhall »

Following on from the post some months ago Taipei and Taiwan Island Tour (Reposted with Pics) (July 15, 2017)-

http://gaybuttonthai.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8615

- the Singapore based gay chat site Blowing Wind has recently included some detailed descriptions of the main saunas and the gayest hot spring. They are included here (read from the fourth post - by the poster Mastiff).

https://www.blowingwind.io/forum/topic/ ... d/?page=75

He first describes a recently opened sauna Soi13. Two posts later he describes the huge and much more expensive Aniki WOW. This is followed by a post on the Huang Ding hot spring. Near the end of the page is a short post by Tommy about Hans Mens Sauna which is located within a stone's throw from the Red House gay complex of bars, restaurants and boutiques.

A few brief comments on the posts. I haven't been to Soi13 or Aniki WOW. I had not realised that Soi13 has a mandatory nude policy. Sounds more than interesting, the more so as Taiwanese guys don't have the hang-ups of their Thai contemporaries who always seem to cover their assets with their hands in a nude environment.

The comments about too many Taiwanese barebacking is sadly true. Always bring your own condoms and lube in case they are not provided.

Since I was last at Huang Ding, that hot spring has obviously reverted from being male only to having both a male and female section. This is a pity since it effectively reduces the space by half. The lockers are certainly tiny. There is no charge to use one (at the others it is usually NT$20) and so some guys just commandeer two. The glass-fronted steam room on the main level obviously remains a hive of activity. The downstairs area is where most of the action now takes place. But this is not a sauna and it is not only gays who visit. I once saw a father with his young sons there. So discretion is always advised.

As mentioned in my earlier post, I now prefer the Huang Szu hot spring a little further down the hill. It has a slightly older clientele but always with quite a number of very handsome young 20s and 30s Taiwanese, especially in the evenings from about 8:00pm. However, I have never seen any action here in the steam room. This is just a place to relax and watch some lovely bodies. Striking up conversation is usually not difficult even if you speak no Chinese. Many of the guys here speak at least some English and some are happy to chat.

Why he spent NT$600 (US$20) on a taxi from his hotel beats me. As I point out in my earlier post, It's so easy to get to the hot spring area by the subway to Shipai station and either a taxi up the hill for the last part (about NT$30 + $150) or a public bus (NT$30 + $15). And it would probably be faster!

The description of Hans Mens Sauna is pretty accurate, although I have often found some students and younger guys there.

There is also a reference to the leather bar Commander D which I describe in my earlier post (although I describe it just as Commander).

Last point. In the middle of the Blowing Wind page there is a strange post by Tomcat. He talks about the relaxing of social attitudes to gays in Taiwan and then adds, "So drug use (meth, etc) and unprotected sex is quite rampant." In all my visits over many years and meeting guys in saunas, hot springs and via the apps, I have never come across anyone using drugs. My Taiwan gay friends also tell me the same. I have no doubt there is some drug use. On the other hand many seem not to understand the dangers of barebacking. I just hope that the safe sex message gets spread around quickly.
a447
Posts: 550
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:56 pm
Has thanked: 24 times
Been thanked: 150 times

Re: Taipei: Detailed Description of Saunas and Gay Hot Spring

Post by a447 »

There are a lot of gay guys from China and Taiwan on tumblr with photos showing their drug use. They often refer to it as "hifun."

They are blowing white smoke (from their mouth!) whilst having sex.

Is it meth??
fountainhall

Re: Taipei: Detailed Description of Saunas and Gay Hot Spring

Post by fountainhall »

a447 wrote:There are a lot of gay guys from China and Taiwan on tumblr with photos showing their drug use. They often refer to it as "hifun."
I look at quite a few tumblr sites allegedly of Taiwan guys and have never noticed this. Can you post a couple of examples? I have certainly never noticed it on the apps. I rarely even come across guys using poppers in Taiwan,
a447
Posts: 550
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:56 pm
Has thanked: 24 times
Been thanked: 150 times

Re: Taipei: Detailed Description of Saunas and Gay Hot Spring

Post by a447 »

Just type "hifun" into the search box in tumblr and you'll find heaps.

I may have bookmarked some in the tumblr app but they now no longer list them in alphabetical order. It's a real pain looking through all my favourites getting to find a specific tumblr.
fountainhall

Re: Taipei: Detailed Description of Saunas and Gay Hot Spring

Post by fountainhall »

Not sure if I am looking in the right place, but using the Tumblr search and typing in China gay hifun and Taiwan gay hifun I get the same result each time -
Sorry, no search results found
When googling tumblr gay china hifun I can certainly see a lot of sites. I have also found some when changing to Taipei or Taiwan. Many are sites with photos of just the individual site owner. Others have pics that are generally available elsewhere on the web. But i can only find one with any smoking or even any indications of drugs. I have also looked at some of the videos on those sites marked hifun and again have found only one about Hong Kong guys with any discernible evidence of drugs.

For example, there is one site headed HIGH FUN BB TOP hung TOP CF but it is just regular photos and videos. I am sure some of the sites of individuals have some evidence somewhere. But in the absence of evidence I just cannot accept there are "a lot" of such guys.

Certainly there is bareback sex but that is hardly unusual in many videos from elsewhere nowadays. And that makes me wonder if hifun in China translates into bb rather than drugs.
a447
Posts: 550
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2012 2:56 pm
Has thanked: 24 times
Been thanked: 150 times

Re: Taipei: Detailed Description of Saunas and Gay Hot Spring

Post by a447 »

Just type in that one word - hifun. Don't worry about adding China or Taiwan. Plenty of sites appear and there are certainly lots of tumblrs with pics and videos of guys exhaling lots of white smoke. Again, I'm guessing it's meth.

The writing under the photos is in Chinese and mentions their location - Taiwan, Taipei or a city in China.
fountainhall

Re: Taipei: Detailed Description of Saunas and Gay Hot Spring

Post by fountainhall »

Sorry a447 I still cannot find evidence to justify the "lots of" claim. Using your directions, I get a page with as you pointed out loads of hifun sites. Along the top there is a list that scrolls across the page. This starts with sites in Chinese, seems endless and certainly could lead a casual viewer to assume there is a vast number. However, when you do scroll across, you discover that only the first 48 sites are in Chinese (although at least a couple in that lot are Korean or American-based). The list then goes to other languages, mostly English or Spanish. To be fair, there seems to be another 80 or so sites underneath that scroll.

I have looked at some of the sites. Most have just a few photos/videos – one has just two! And I have to add I can find few with any indication of smoke or drug equipment. One with a guy exhaling smoke specifically mentions meths. Perhaps I just missed what you saw. But a mere 48 – or even 130 – sites of individuals mostly in Taiwan or a few in China hardly gives credence to there being "lots of pics showing drug use" IMHO, the more so when there must be many millions of gays in those countries. Nor does it suggest to me evidence of much drug use. I only mention all this because it bears out what my friends in Taipei and China tell me.

Much more disturbing for some will be the prevalence of bareback sex on those sites.
Post Reply