Hot springs heating up hospitality industry

Tongren in Guizhou province is rich in hot springs and has thus become a magnet for healthcare-themed hotels and resorts.

Jiulong Cave Spring

Located inside the Jiulong Cave national scenic site, Jiulong Cave Spring Holiday Manor is one of 100 key tourism projects in Guizhou. The holiday resort is also on the list of the province's key programs for promoting cultural industry.

Its spring water comes from 1,810 meters deep underground. Tests by the Ministry of Land and Resources show that the water here has no visible impurity or bad smell and is extremely soft. It is rich in fluorine and the density of some useful acids is high enough for medical use. The hot spring can help to treat rheumatoid arthritis and similar diseases.

Jiutian Spring Hotel

Located at the junction of Sichuan, Hunan and Guizhou provinces, Jiutian Spring Hotel faces Wujiang River to the east and is surrounded by mountains. It has rich tourism resources nearby, with the Fanjing Mountain national nature reserve in Guizhou 67 km away, the ancient city of Fenghuang some 150 km away, and the Sinan Karst stone forest 100 km away.

The hotel, which cost more than 500 million yuan ($73 million) to construct, is the center of a bigger project called the Sinan spring travel complex, which occupies approximately 47 hectares.

The complex is set to become one of the key tourism projects in Guizhou, and has been granted 4A-level scenic site status.

Shiqiangu Spring

The Shiqiangu Spring dates back to 1606 AD and has a daily supply of more than 6,000 tons of hot water, enough to support all its 138 bathing pools.

With more than 20 beneficial trace elements, the spring water can be used for both bathing and drinking, which is unique nationwide.

A local investment company has poured 520 million yuan into making full use of the spring to develop the 4A-level tourism site, which is designed as a holiday resort combining healthcare, sightseeing and leisure activities.

Zhang Zhouxiang and Dong Xianwu contributed to this story.

(China Daily 11/16/2016 page10)