Landscaped hot spring resort

3 min read

Just outside the large swimming complex is the second area where outdoor tang and covered tang have been constructed. The tang are the medicinal pools filled with herb and flower-infused hot spring water that are designed to alleviate different ailments. Since I visited this resort in the middle of winter, standing at the doorway to the outside in just my swimsuit and only a towel draped over my shoulders, it took me a while to muster up the courage to head out into the below freezing day to then plunk down into a vat of hot spring water. Especially when I saw the attendants outside who shuffled around in matching snow boots, ski pants, parkas, branded knit caps and gloves sweeping away the thin layers of frost that formed around the tang from the occasional splashes of spring water.

When two more guys, both in my spa adventure party turned up next to me, the three of us looked at each other and realized we had to go outside no matter how cold it was. Our manly howls quickly turned to girlish squeals as we trotted in plastic slippers the 50 or soyards to a collection of outdoor pools. We startled one of the attendants enough that she had to stop her work of salting down the ice around the pools and we had to wait a few unending minutes for her to finish before we could gingerly lower ourselves into the 40+ degrees Celsius water and thaw out from the cold.

There is a strange sensation that washes over you when you are sitting outside in 40+degrees Celsius water while the ambient temperature is about-5 degrees Celsius. Half frozen, half melting and alternating between the two as you raise and lower yourself out of the water and jog from pool to pool is surprisingly refreshing. Your body relaxes rather quickly and the prickly heat and stinging cold really does soothe your muscles. After a 10 minute soak you are ready to venture out into the cold again and try another pool. At the Yingkou Xiongyue Hot Spring Resort there are dozens of different health andwellness pools. Outside the management has created caves and rock face facades with different large and small pools to soak in with differing medicinal herb remedies. Theseoutdoor pools with their snow-covered surroundings are great for taking a relaxing rest while talking with friends. Splintering off from these outdoor oases are covered walkways and semi-enclosed pavilions with myriad small pools jutting off from behind slidingscreens. Each of these intimate pools can seat just a few people and offer even more medicinal remedies.

This is perhaps the most enjoyable part of the visit. While hot springs are reputed to relieve specific ailments, many of us don’t get to venture out to these establishments all that often and sampling as many different pools in an afternoon or evening is part of the fun.

Shuffling and squealing through the outdoor pavilions,I don’t care how tough you think you are. It is cold in Liaoning in the winter and you will squeal, then dunking your body into the smorgasbord of medicinal pools is really a great way to enjoy your visit. After all, how else are you going to discover which pool is right for your next of many returns?

Yingkou Xiongyue Hot Spring Resort does not just cater to the one-day visitor. The third area of this resort consists of facilities that are often booked for larger business groups and junkets including meeting rooms and large multi-guest suites (even honeymoon suites), that are the life blood of the hot springs industry. The resort does promote an overallwellness ideal with its restaurant offering green, organic and local delicacies,a heavyemphasis on tea and relaxation and a strong adherence to cleanliness and water qualitymaintenance. All of this makes Yingkou Xiongyue Hot Spring Resort a stunning example of the newly developing, high-end establishments in Liaoning.