Travels in Chongqing: Hot Springs and a Big Blue Bear

Chongqing is known for its hot springs, and we decided to treat ourselves and have a hot springs spa day. We began at the Tianci Huatang Forest Hot Springs Resort Hotel, which has more than a dozen different types of hot spring pools. The hotel also boasts having a triceratops head skeleton from millions of years ago; when I said, “we have a lot of dinosaur skeletons in the US,” our guide said, “the hotel bought this from the US.”

The natural hot springs water is sourced from under the Jinyun Mountains, and provides the normal hot springs healing powers. There was even a pool that smelled like rose water, which was my favorite, as well as the pool where the fish nibble at your feet.

A meal at the spa was also included, and we had to try everything, including chicken feet, which was not bad tasting, but too much work to get meat off of it. Also, Chongqing food is way too spicy for our tastes, so we tried it all, but left with our mouths on fire (just look at the bowl on the right below and tell me you can’t feel the spices and heat coming off of it. Those are glass noodles, too, which have a slick, chewy texture I liked but Jessica did not care for).

After our restful spa day, we finally had a sunny day for our last in Chongqing. Instead of heading back into the main city, we went the opposite way, up winding roads, to the country. The place on the map was called Yilu Huange Ecological Garden, and the Amaps app showed pretty pictures, and a small pond or lake nearby. The Didi climbed and climbed, and we were definitely in the country, on a narrow road when the driver let us out. There was a cafe on one corner, and some people milling about outside, and some farmland, but no garden.

We walked around awhile, down paved streets with no cars, amid some farms and grape vines, and around the lake area.

We saw remnants of a ropes course, and at some time in the past one could zipline over the lake, rent fishing rods (though not anymore), and even stay on the little lake in bright painted cabins. It looks a lot nicer than it was, to be honest, but up close, all the cracks and rust showed. It was another place that time had slowly forgotten, as none of these things were in working order. Though surprisingly, we weren’t alone, and there were other Chinese tourists hanging about, taking pictures, and some cherry blossoms too.

We eventually took the long walk back to the nearest town, and caught a Didi back to our hotel. We decided to go searching for a local dinner, and a statue of a blue bear piqued our interest.

We walked up the little hill, which was mainly a park, to see what was at the top; it was a cute cafe that Jessica had noted seeing earlier in our travels back to the hotel. I ordered a strawberry shake, and we headed up to the second level of the cafe, which provided us spectacular views of Chongqing on this sunny early evening.

We stayed until the sun went down, enjoying our last evening in Chongqing. It was a memorable trip and glad we changed our original plans and decided to visit. Adios, Chongqing, until next time!