The mundane

Hou Yi's wife

The mountainous province of Yunnan is home to not only a diverse selection of minorities it is also home to many hot springs. In this blog entry I will be focusing on the regions with less hot springs to the South and West of the province's capital, Kunming.

Starting off by going south east, Yuxi prefecture, contains another high number of hot springs.
 
Dayinjie (Hongta district), a 15 minute drive from Yuxi city, is reputed to be the home of many a hot spring. Chris Horton writes:

'The nicest of these is Moon Lake, comprised of a series of 12 pools with different herbs, mineral salts, and liquors to soak away a day'.

Note that there is also accommodation in Dayin(jie) called Moon Lake Hot Spring Hostel (tripadvisor).

'Moon Lake Spa is a traditional Japanese-style hot spring resort, a blend of the most traditional spa culture and the most fashionable casual concept, promote health, recreation and ecological balance, the nature of the clear sky and hot springs leisurely leisure appropriate to bring every visitor, for the love of life and health of people has created an oasis in a bustling city' (source link since original posting in 2011 not working).

Probably the most prosaic description includes this:

'As the saying goes: Chang-e Xiafan only look for home on earth, Hou Yi's wife up on why the palace of heaven - to the Chinese Restaurant Tam!'

? Well, I bet it makes more sense in Chinese (I hope).

Elsewhere in Dayinjie is the hot spring of Yingyuetan (tripadvisor). This should not be confused with the Yingyue hot spring of Chongqing. People's Daily (August 16, 2013) adds:

'The full name of Yingyuetan Hot Spring is Yingyuetan Leisure and Cultural Center. It is located in the Daying Street of Yuxi City. It consists of Yingyuetan Hot Spring, Yingyuetan Water Fitness Center, Gratitude Shopping Street, Yingyue Hot Spring Inn, Sakya Cultural Garden and Yuquan Temple.
While you are in a spring pool, you can hear the sound of fountain, and look at the beautiful moon and shining stars. You will have a wonderful night here'.

And Bailong (hot?) spring (tripadvisor). It's listed under geysers / hot springs, so ...

Anyway this person went to a hot spring near Yuxi (but no name) and mentions:

'Yesterday, most of us decided to visit a local hot spring."Having never been to a hot spring in China, I was excited about relaxing in a mountain pool, getting a massage, and generally spending the afternoon in a stupor.Our "hot spring" was not that sort of place. Instead, we found an odd mix of a public pool and an amusement park. We began the afternoon with "bump bump boats," basically floating bumper cars. These only cost us about $1 USD and fell into the category of awesome, dangerous activities that cannot be found in the US (see my earlier post on the Great Wall slide)'.

Lakeside
The Zaojie (or Zhaojia) hot springs (Jiangchuan county) see little internet reference though Angsana hotels:

'Zaojie Hot Spring is situated at the foot of Lijia Hill in Jiangchuan County. A unique group of hot springs can be found along the banks of Fuxian Lake and Xingyun Lake, with closely packed spring openings stretching from one point to another in the village. There are springs with double openings and small pools with just a single opening. The strongest flow of water is concentrated at a point with six openings. It is certainly not an exaggeration to say that a spring opening can be found around every corner in the village. The water, which is of a carbonate composition, is clear and refreshing, and ideal for both drinking and bathing. Water temperatures generally range from 20℃ to 30℃. The difference in temperature between the two springs that are furthest apart is as large as 9℃. It is believed that drinking from the pool and bathing in it regularly is an effective way of relieving rheumatism'.

This link continues:

'The Xingyun Lake [also known as Nebula lake] has many hot springs, such as the Luozhipu [or Luosipu] Hot-spring located in Zhaojiawan on the east, and the Haixicun Hot-spring and Shuangjing Hot-spring on the west. From north to south, 5 springs lie in a line. A peculiar thing is that the temperature of these springs is increasing from the north one to the south one, with a total difference of 8 to 9 C. These hot springs are ideal bathing places as well as rest and recuperate resorts along the Xingyun Lake'.

In the same county is also the Fish Spring (tripadvisor) as well as a reference to Shenyu hot spring:

'The village is called Xujiatou Village and it is bestowed with rich hot-spring resources. In the village there is a stone-paved road on both of which houses from late Qing Dynasty are lined. Among the springs scattered in the village there is one called Shenyu Spring'.

This link though explains Shenyu means divine fish and fish live in the spring probably meaning that this is not a hot spring. The link does add:

'In the area, there are also sewage fish and toilet fish, which makes up amazing fish culture'.

In fact yunnanadventure.com adds :

'The water of the Shenyu Spring remains between 28 ℃ to 30 ℃ round the year. Now there are 300 black carps in the spring'.

So a warm spring. No soaking by the way.

Hot and warm
Another purportedly not so hot spring is to be found in Tonghai county, the Warm Water Pond. The same source also has a reference to the Hot Water Pond of Chengjiang county. Chengjiang also has hot springs in Haikouxiang, the hot water cave of Luchong and the hot water river of Jiucun (source). Though I believe these would be located near the above mentioned Xingyun lake, Mansfield and Walters [1] mention Jiucun village on Fuxian lake as having 'attractive' hot springs.

The aforementioned chinakunming.travel also adds the existence of a hot spring in Meiyun Lao’ao Village (Yimen County).Wana hot spring is located in Yuanjiang county, apparently development is needed (link not working).

Perrier
Eshan county as far as this blog knows has three hot springs. The lesser known is that of Dalongtan (source). The other lesser known hot spring is Baoquan (source).

Tainzi hot spring

More well known is Tianzi (Tianziyuan) hot spring which is a rather large bathing facility with a connected hotel (tripadvisor).

'The spring is rich in geothermal water resources and the temperature is between 39 – 43 ℃ around the year. The water is abundant in calcium, magnesium, zinc, strontium, and oxygen, which is supposed to be good for health and keeping good looks with medical effects' (source).

The eastern most county, Huaning, has the famous hot spring of Xiangbi (or Elephant Trunk Mountain) hot spring which is 8 km from from Huaning county:

'Xiangbi Hot-spring was developed in East Han Dynasty which was about 2,000 years ago. The water temperature remains between 39℃ to 41℃. The water quality is of high level that can be used for bathing as well as drinking. According to a state appraisal, there are 24 microelements in the water that are essential to human body. Three of the elements, namely metasilicate, strontium and lithium, reach the national standard on drinkable natural spring water. The water also has therapy function' (source).

Angsana.com (link now not working) adds quite a bit including this:

'Its beauty has inspired a poem that goes like this: “Great springs of the universe do not be arrogant, as waters in Wenzhao concede to Huaning'.

Ostensibly it compares quality wise to Perrier! The springs have a large indoor pool (source).

Elsewhere in Huaning, is Tobacco hot spring (tripadvisor).

Updated December 2013

 
Notes
[1] Mansfield, S. and M. Walters (2007) China: Yunnan province. Bradt Travel Guides, Bucks, United Kingdom.