While people in South China can't go skiing in their neighborhood for obvious reasons, they do have other winter activities to try out, namely relaxing in hot spring baths. Wallowing in warm water, lounging in hot natural springs while gazing over beautiful landscape is a whole new winter experience.

There is one particular place that is surely worth a visit among the variety of hot springs in Guangdong Province: the Tanghu fango hot mud bath of Meizhou. One of the two hot mud springs in the entire country, this resort allows city tourists to really unwind.

About 320 kilometers from Shenzhen, the mud bath resort is set 30 minutes drive from Meizhou, an idyllic town full of country wooden houses, peasants and farmers, singing birds and fragrant flowers. Set in beautiful countryside, the mud bath resort looks like a traditional-style palace. In its grounds is a huge open-air mud bath surrounded by a variety of hot springs.

Submerging most of your body in a warm mud bath, also known as a fango, is a great experience in the cool winter weather. Simply lying in the fango pool, you will gradually be absorbed into the soft, hot mud. Little by little, you will feel a very cozy flow overwhelming your whole body as if you are escaping reality. It is no doubt the most effective therapy for pressure and exhaustion, rheumatism and other ailments. Rich in minerals, the mud bath has been used for therapeutic and skin treatment purposes for more than two hundred years. Now it has earned the new nickname fango spa, which has proven popular among young image-conscious women.

Having submerged yourself in the fango pool for around 20 minutes, you can wash off the mud, using hot spring water. There is a hot waterfall flowing from a spring, which you cannot afford to miss.

If you want to find a place to stay, there is a row of Russian-style chalets set at the side of a lake. With their red roofs and wooden structures they form magical silhouettes in the dying rays of the day. Watching the sunset, you can forget about all your troubles and relax to the full. In addition to the mud bath and hot springs, the site also provides visitors with entertainment , as well as an extensive range of beauty care services.

 
Editor: Catherine