As temperatures drop, the hot spring tourism market in Longmen County, known as the “Hometown of Hot Springs in China”, has fully heated up and officially entered the peak tourist season. Major hot spring scenic spots are bursting with popularity. Tourists wrapped in bath towels shuttle through the steaming mist, and the ginger tea stalls by the pools are crowded with people waiting. Family tours, parent-child tours, and health-preserving tours have become the mainstream. The reservation volume of hot spring enterprises has seen a significant month-on-month increase compared with last month, and the winter upsurge of “hot spring bathing” continues to gain momentum.
On November 12, reporters visited two hot spring enterprises on the spot and saw that various distinctive hot spring projects have attracted different groups of customers to experience them. At Nankunshan Cloud Top Hot Spring Resort, the three-story-tall Maya Water Village is filled with laughter and joy. Children scream as they plunge down the slides, while parents close their eyes and relax in the adjacent traditional Chinese medicine pool. 172 hot spring pools built against the mountain are scattered among bamboo forests, including pools with views of the mountains and ice-fire pools with alternating hot and cold water. The newly opened 21,000-square-meter Daqin Hot Spring Paradise this year has become a “happy planet” for family tourists.
Tourist: The hot springs here at Cloud Top are especially good. Our elderly and children all like them very much, and we come here every year.
Tourists shared with reporters that the facilities here are complete, there are abundant indoor and outdoor hot spring pools, the buffet dinner is delicious, the accommodation environment is comfortable, and the newly opened Daqin Hot Spring Paradise offers various ways to play, making the overall experience perfect. In response to tourists’ needs, the scenic area is continuously enriching its product supply.
Lin Ziliang, Director of Nankunshan Cloud Top Hot Spring Resort: Next, we will launch a hot spring + energy recuperation package, which combines the relaxing recuperation of hot springs with the detoxification and health preservation of hot steaming, bringing an experience effect of 1+1>2. The hot spring + buffet dinner package, a combination of “hot spring bathing + delicious food”, is especially suitable for enjoying in the cool weather, allowing people to relax both physically and mentally while savoring delicious food.
Subsequently, reporters came to Wyndham Nankunshan Hot Spring Hotel and saw that it was also bustling with tourists. 81 distinctive hot spring pools, a water park, a suspended transparent infinity pool, a circular waterway and other facilities are all available. The hotel has various room types such as king-size bed rooms and twin-bed rooms, and some rooms are also equipped with private hot spring pools to meet the accommodation needs of different tourists.
Tourist: Our family came from Huizhou. As the weather turned cold, we wanted to come to Longmen to soak in hot springs and relax. I will come again to play, because the travel experience here is really good, and the hot springs in Longmen are also very famous.
Reporters learned that to cover all age groups of customers, Wyndham Hot Spring Hotel has launched health-preserving physiotherapy projects and various distinctive medicated bath pools for middle-aged and elderly customers; designed internet-famous “check-in” spots such as the suspended transparent infinity pool and bird’s nest hot spring pools for young tourists; and created parent-child interactive fun activities such as hot spring water parks, bubble pools and DIY handicrafts for family parent-child tours, so that tourists of every age group can find fun. In addition, the hotel has also upgraded its catering services.
Xu Jianwei, Director of Marketing and Sales at Wyndham Nankunshan Hot Spring Hotel: The hotel’s western restaurant has launched a special buffet hot pot themed on Longmen Bearded Chicken in winter, and the Chinese restaurant has also launched seasonal nourishing dishes for winter. To better enhance the experience of guests, the hotel is also planning “intangible cultural heritage (ICH) handcrafts” interactive activities, such as ICH bamboo weaving refrigerator stickers and ICH lacquered fans.
Cultural empowerment is also a distinctive highlight of Longmen’s hot spring tourism this year. It is reported that major hot spring enterprises across the county have integrated local cultural elements such as ICH pancake making, helo (a kind of traditional bamboo basket) display, and Longmen farmer painting into free activities for children, allowing tourists to experience the unique cultural charm of Longmen while relaxing in hot springs.
It is understood that the peak season of Longmen’s hot spring tourism has just kicked off. In the future, Longmen County will further strengthen the supervision of the tourism market, continuously improve service quality, and create a more comfortable and reassuring hot spring experience for tourists. As the coldness intensifies, people yearn for warm hot springs. This winter, you might as well go to Longmen, choose a favorite hot spring, and unlock the warm winter romance of the “Hometown of Hot Springs” in the misty steam.
