I live in a 2nd tier Chinese city. I've never once spotted weiqi being played in public, only majiang and xiangqi. On a whim I once walked into a weiqi school to have a look. The students were all young children. Apart from the boards and stones, it could have been an English class. I chatted with the secretary and a few of the teachers for a bit. They did not offer classes for adults and were a bit surprised I was even asking about that. When I asked for suggestions on public playing spaces, the head teacher said that in our city people play in private groups, 1duan and above only, and that if I could demonstrate that level of ability to him he would gladly invite me to some of his regular haunts.
It was a pleasant, if somewhat disappointing, experience.
It wouldn't bother me a bit to sit in a weiqi class with elementary-aged children if the content was appropriate for my level, but they tend to meet in the early afternoon when I am still in the office so as of yet I continue to study on my own.
