Hot Spring Cultural Festival Comes to Town in Beijing

Source:Global Times; Date: 2010-3-30; By shyoto; Clicks:358

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Hot Spring Cultural Festival Comes to Town in Beijing

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Between Beijing 's miserable winters, its sweat lodge summers and its sandstorm springs, one is often left to wonder, why would anyone establish a capital here? Unexpectedly, one needs only look to Changping District, where geothermal hot springs bubble up from the earth's crust, to find a silver lining.

The Seventh Changping Xiaotangshan ("the ancient town of hot springs") Hot Spring Cultural Festival kicks off on March 26 in Tianlongyuan Hot Spring Resort, and will run for two months. Expect to find days filled with creative idea generating forums involving health experts and industry managers, hot spring discounts and lucky draws.

Li Chenglong, deputy director of the Changping Tourism Bureau, told Lifestyle, "Changping has over 40 hot spring enterprises, offering more than 700 hot pools, most of which are in Xiaotangshan." That answers any questions of quantity, but still, why the festival? Li pulls no punches with his answer. "We hope to turn Xiaotangshan into a famous-brand hot spring through this cultural festival in order to promote the industry, exploit hot spring resources and boost the development of the tourism economy in Changping." Refreshing honesty, but not exactly full of promises of a relaxing time. Fortunately, the area's history precedes it: Changping, Li explained, has been a hot spring hub for over 1,500 years, and is home to six famous geothermal enterprises, including Jiuhua Spa and Resort, Honglu, Longmai – all located in Xiaotangshan – and Wendu Water City, Tianlongyuan and Fengshan.

To coincide with the launch, a long-overdue Beijing website will also go live, providing one-stop information about the latest discounts and activities.

Interesting performance

The opening ceremony of the festival is to be held in Tianlongyuan Hot Spring Resort, which is best equipped for large-scale shows and is known for its regular performances of "Bodhisattva in Holy Water," according to Li.

This routine was directed by Zhang Jigang – deputy general director of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games – at a cost of 80 million yuan and two years. It is performed by more than 200 artists from home and abroad, and is the first Bodhisattva dance to integrate water, ice, air and stage performances. Think ring-shaped stage, embedded ice rink, hydraulic water tank and 2,000-seat panorama grandstand. The final performance is schedule to be the Thousand-Hand Bodhisattva, a famous dance performed by deaf-mute dancers and also directed by Zhang, most notably for the 2005 CCTV Spring Festival Gala. This version will also include figure skating and water ballet.

Hot springs will offer discounts during the festival; for example, Wendu Water City will offer a free seven-colored spa – the water is infused with traditional Chinese medicines, such as safflower (red), lemon (yellow) and lavender (purple) – regularly priced at 120 yuan, said brand department employee Shi Jingjing. "Wendu has a separate hall offering water recreation facilities, such as water slides and surfing. For the upcoming festival, we'll reduce the two-adults-one-kid family package ticket [includes entry and one day of hotel accommodation] by 100 yuan [the usual price ranges from 688 to 988 yuan] The individual ticket is reduced from 198 to 168 yuan."

Hot Springs: the movie

Changping's also taken interesting steps toward the cultural and creative industries by cooperating with Beijing Film Publishing House to produce a hot spring-themed movie. According to Li, it will be a light comedy, to be shot at six major hot springs in Changping, displaying a complete picture of the industry, including baths, health resorts, tourism, exhibitions and art performances, all conveyed via the story of two generations starting a hot spring business. The film team will meet with audiences face-to-face during the festival's opening ceremony.

Want to see some waxworks?

Until the end of May, the tourism bureau will hold 50 promotional activities in 50 communities in urban Beijing, with online lucky draws and quizzes for prizes (including a vehicle worth 100,000 yuan).

Additionally, citizens can buy a 100- kuai ticket package good for a year's worth of unlimited visits to 15 scenic spots in Changping, such as the China Aviation Museum and Yinshan Pagoda Forest. The Ming Dynasty Waxworks Palace (Tel: 6974-7257) is also on the list, said to rival Madame Tussaud's, where visitors can gape at a total 374 lifelike waxworks in 26 emulated scenes depicting the economy, politics, culture, wars and palace life over 276 years and 16 emperors. Stop by for an eyeful of Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, being inaugurated in Nanjing , or pause to contemplate the scene of diplomatic envoys meeting with Emperor Yongle.

Once the site launches, you can buy tickets online, or go through the Changping Tourism Website (www.chply.com). The bureau has organized with 100 travel agencies to promote one-day Tours to Changping, including 10 differently themed tours that integrate local sites (the Great Wall, the Imperial Mausoleum, and the like) and end at a hot spring resort.

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Tags: Beijing Chinese Festivals Hot Spring

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