China Watch

Owners of the swank China Club in Hollywood are seeking a buyer. City National Bank has extended a payment deadline on a loan to the club’s owners after threatening imminent foreclosure.

In mid-December, the 1 1/2-year-old club’s business license was suspended for 90 days after the Los Angeles Fire Deparment cited it more than once for over-capacity crowds. At the time, speculation swirled over whether the club would ever reopen. Now, more than ever, there is uncertainty.

Co-owner Danny Fried says the search for a buyer is “basically a real estate deal.”

Fried blames the Fire Department, which set a capacity at China Club of 313, for the venue’s demise: “When you don’t do a lot of business because they limit your numbers, it’s difficult.”

Meanwhile, local attorney Samuel H. Weiss says he’s waiting in the wings. He has been asked to auction off the club and everything in it for City National Bank if a buyer is not soon found.

Expected opening bid for the club’s 33,000-watt, 22-speaker sound system: $60,000.

Survival of the Fittest

Lately women’s magazines have been touting no pain-all gain workouts, ways to trim and tone without busting a gut. But that trend doesn’t seem to hold up here, where we’ve been noticing people flocking to exercise classes that sound more like torture sessions.

For instance: Beverly Hills Health Club offers “Agony/Ecstasy” (“It hurts so good!”) and “Basic Training.” The Martin Henry Fitness Studio has a 1 1/2-hour “Master Marathon,” and the Main Street Fitness Dance and Aerobics Center class list includes “Powerobics” and “Abdominal Blast,” the latter evoking images of exploding intestines after one too many sit-ups. Evidently this new rage is catching on. One of our Buzz spies was in Tucson recently and spotted an aerobics class simply called “Animal.”

Essentials

What you need to maneuver the L.A. scene: If you’re out and about on the social circuit and it’s one of your New Year’s resolutions to be environmentally conscious in 1992, here are some things to keep in mind: Never wear real fur to events, always car-pool (preferably in an inexpensive, fuel-efficient car), and recycle those enormous program and ad books that are handed out at awards dinners.