The Third Guangdong International Hot Spring Tourism Festival and the World Hot Spring Science Conference will be hosted in the Ocean Spring Resort (OSR) in Zhuhai from Nov. 25 to 28.

About 300 hot-spring and spa experts are expected from more than 10 countries, including Italy, Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Belarus, Hungary, France, Japan, and South Korea. There will also be more than 400 representatives of tourism administrations and hot-spring associations from all over China attending the festival in the coastal resort to the west of Zhuhai.

They are expected to discuss topics such as hot-spring maintenance, development of hot-spring resorts, sustainable development of hot-spring resources, and integration of spas and hot springs.

Part of the annual Guangdong International Tourism Festival, this festival is hosted by the Guangdong Provincial Tourism Administration and Guangdong Tourism Association, together with the World Federation of Hydrotherapy and Climatotherapy.

During the four-day event, the OSR and Guangdong Provincial Association of the Hot Spring Industry will jointly launch the OSR Hot Spring Research Institute, which will focus on researching seawater hot-spring resources and their commercialization.

The inaugural conference of the China Hot Spring Association will be held in the OSR in December.

Guangdong boasts a wealth of hot springs with 311 already discovered, making the province the third richest in hot springs on the Chinese mainland after the Tibet Autonomous Region and Yunnan Province.

Official statistics show that more than 10 million tourists spent about 10 billion yuan (US$1.46 billion) at hot-spring resorts in China last year.

The OSR is a project developed by the China Travel Service (Hong Kong) Limited in 2002 after the group successfully built the Overseas Chinese Town and the theme parks Window of the World and Splendid China·China Folk Culture Villages in Shenzhen.

Resting on a hill and facing the sea to the west of Zhuhai, the first phase of the resort covers a coastal area of five square kilometers and costs more than 3.5 billion yuan.

At present, the resort includes more than 80 hot-spring pools, two five-star hotels, a food court and entertainment complex, high-tech opera house, theme park, healthcare center, sports club, golf course and fish farm.

Since it was opened Jan. 22, 2006, the OSR has received an average of more than 2,000 visitors a day.

In September 2006, the OSR was included in the national holiday tourism forecast monitoring system, which releases forecasts on countrywide holiday tourism, as well as other information and data on tourist sites. It became the only tourist site in Guangdong to be included in the system.

The resort was awarded the title of National Demonstration Base of Vacational Tourism by the State Tourism Administration and became the first of its kind in the country.

Today, the OSR has become a top destination in China for meetings, conventions and events.

The most distinct feature of the OSR is that the water supplied for its 80 pools comes from a hot spring deep under the South China Sea, which was named The First Hot Spring in South China by Chinese scholar Chen Yanbing (1903-1996), who was known as the Father of Hot Springs and a leading researcher in hot-spring therapy.

The hot-spring water keeps a stable temperature between 80 and 83 degrees Celsius. In addition, the water contains more than 30 kinds of minerals which are beneficial for health.

Comprising indoor and outdoor areas, the OSR’s existing hot-spring pools have combined different styles of hot springs from all over the world, such as the Roman bathhouse, Japanese bathhouse and spas.

In addition, more than 10 kinds of dry and wet sauna steam showers are unique and cannot be found elsewhere in China.

During the May Day holiday this year, the OSR opened its fish farm to the public, providing one more option for tourists to relax and enjoy their holiday.

In July this year, a gala show, which combined music, songs, dances, ballet, and multi-media arts, was introduced, and a first-class camping site for motor tourists was opened.

Besides the OSR, Zhuhai boasts the Imperial Hot Spring Resort as well as a number of spa beauty shops, such as Herbal Spa Valley, Ning Xiang Fang Spa, Pacific Ocean Spa, and Polymnia City Spa.

Polymnia City Spa has the world’s latest spa treatments and therapeutic equipment and matches all service standards set by the International Spa Association. It includes 100-percent natural skin care products by the well -known French brand Peggy Sage.

The Imperial Hot Spring Resort claims to be the first Japanese-style open-ended hot-spring resort in China. It appeals to tourists from home and abroad with its soothing waters and stellar service.

Zhuahai Ocean Spring Resort

Add: Pingsha Township, Jinwan District (珠海金湾区平沙镇海泉湾度假区)

Admission: Free. Charges for services as advised.

Tel: 0756-772-8888, 772-8111

Zhuhai Imperial Hot Spring Resort

Add: Doumen County (珠海斗门御温泉渡假村)

Admission: 128 yuan

Tel: 0756-579-7128

Polymnia City Spa

Add: 231 Shuiwan Road, Jida, Zhuhai (珠海吉大水湾路231号)

Admission: Free. Charges for services as advised.

Tel: 0756-818-8100

(Shenzhen Daily November 25, 2008)