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I have been to Xiamen, China, several times but had missed the chance to visit this well-known Riyuegu Hot Springs Spa Resort in Xiamen each time due to one reason or another.

Riyuegu Hot Springs Resort is very famous natural hot spring spa resort in Xiamen, China and had been extremely well-reviewed in travel and spa magazines.

Hence, in my recent trip to Xiamen, I made sure that I set aside at least 2 free days to visit Riyuegu Hot Springs Resort. I was so determined that I must visit this spa resort this time that even before my trip, I booked my accommodation online to ensure I had no further reasons not to go to this resort.

Riyuegu Hot Springs Spa Resort is probably one of the nicest spa resort in Southern China. From previous written web and magazine reviews, I was aware that it is owned and managed by a Singapore company. The resort offers a 4 star class luxury hotel and just across a busy highway on the other side is the outdoor hot springs theme park and a spa retreat. An electrical golf-cart shuttles you between the two locations if you need to travel between the two.

In my opinion, the hotel should be rated 5 stars as I feel that the whole hotel resort was very well done-up with nice landscaping, elegant interior decoration, very clean and had pleasant and helpful staff.

The hotel rooms at Riyuegu Hot Springs Spa Resort are beautifully decorated, spacious, modern and all bathrooms has a large stone bath tub with piped-in hot spring water. This is the best part… hotel guests can enjoy a hot spring bath in the room if they wanted more privacy or perhaps too lazy to go across the road to the hotspring theme park. The hotel also has a very nice outdoor swimming pool for guests to relax to. There is also a Western and Chinese restaurant.

The biggest drawback, if I can nit-pick, about Riyuegu Hot Springs Resort is that the whole resort is located in an industrial zone and Xiamen city is about a half hour drive away. For hotel guests, you can’t go or do anything else except stay and enjoy the facilities within the hotel or spa. But then again, if you are really looking for a spa resort to get away from civilization… well then, this is it!

(Note: A travel website review that I read before arriving at Riyuegu described the resort as being surrounded by lush greenery and scenic countryside all around. Don’t believe that review … it is all factories and industrial buildings once you move away from the resort!)

Riyuegu Hot Springs Spa Resort has two spas. One is located within the hotel and the other is located across the road together with the hotspring theme park. Both spas offer almost the same spa, beauty and detox treatments and has similar prices. The difference is …. treatments done in the hotel spa are subjected to a 15% government tax but not at the spa retreat for hotel and non-hotel guests alike. (Hint from me: Now you know where you should have your massage!)

The hotel spa has a relaxing lounge whereby after your treatment, you can rest and relax at the lounge as long as you want. The hotel spa also offers a oxygen spa treatment room which the spa at the hotspring theme park does not.

I must say that I was very impressed with Riyuegu Hot Springs Spa Resort. It is definitely worth a trip as the facilities are fabulous, services good and prices, simply affordable - compared to other large cities around Asia.

I highly recommend this spa resort for jaded spa enthusiasts who want to try something different other than their usual spa holidays to Bangkok, Bali, Penang, Ko Samui or Phuket.

Compared to a typical beach resort, the entire Riyuegu Spa resort is supplied with natural underground hotspring water, (even in the hotel rooms) which is said to contain minerals that are good for the skin and body. Definitely a plus point over beach-side spa resorts which may actually cost harm to the skin and body if one is not careful to be exposed too much to the sun.

Getting There
Situated just half an hour drive from downtown Xiamen, Riyuegu Hot Springs Spa Resort offers a shuttle service pick up hourly at the carpark opposite SM Square (Fuxia Road, nearer to Kentucky Fried Chicken).

Coming Up…
Watch out for our next article as we reiew the Riyuegu hotspring theme park.

Location of Riyuegu Hotsprings Resort:
1888 Fulian Road, Haicang District, Xiamen, China 361027
Size of Resort: One luxury hotel, one hotspring theme-park, one spa retreat
Facilities: Multiple luxurious spa facilities
Friendliness: Extremely polite resort staff and massage therapists.
Pricing: Ranges from US$15 to US$40 for massage only. Between US$85 to US$175 for spa, beauty or detox packages.

Talk about up-sized! I know foot massage is a popular past time in mainland China but can you imagine a foot massage joint with a hundred over massage rooms and three hundred over massage therapists?

I recently visited a foot massage palor in Xiamen, China which can take in hundreds of customers at any one time and it is aptly named as ‘Da Tong Shui’ or literally ‘Big Bucket of Water’…

Da Tong Shui is located in a busy commercial district in Xiamen, China and has a grand entrance flanked by pretty female receptionists. Two flights of automated escalators lead up and down to the second and third floor of the building leading to a further myriad of hundreds of massage rooms. One can get lost easily in the corridors of hundreds of massage room maze…

The entire complex is done up very grand, elegant and opulently, very unlike the small and humble foot massage joints one is more likely to encounter in most places in Asia. Prices are clearly stated at RMB50 (US$6.25) an hour of foot massage with a free flow of food, soup, dessert and beverages! These prices are ready to knock the socks off all the small foot massage joints! No wonder there are hundreds of rooms because I am sure at that price, foot massage enthusiasts would be flocking to it!

There were two of us and the ushers lead us to a private room. Everyone gets a private room even if you walk in alone. Each room comes with comfortable seats, piped in music, magazines, LCD TV and a FREE FLOW of drinks, double-boiled soup and food which you can ask for anytime. There is even a printed catalogue with the the bio-data of each of the foot therapist including his/her specialty or strength level so that a customer can even find a therapist customised to his liking.

Tea was served immediately and soon, two foot massage therapists came in to start our treatment. We started with a hot water soak in a herbs-filled wooden bucket (hence the name Da Tong Shui or Big Water Bucket) and then the actual foot massage started.

Treatment lasted for an hour and included some shoulder and hand massage. You can also add a foot pedicure for RMB20, Gua-Sha for RMB30 or Chinese Tui-Na Massage for RMB50. We chose an additional one hour of Tui-Na Massage and the foot massage seats were miraculously transformed into a sort of massage bed. We could even do our Tui Na or Chinese massage with the same therapists without leaving the room!

Tui Na was equally good and it was so easy to fall asleep in such a conducive environment. All too soon, one hour was up and it was time for some nourishing soup and food! We were presented with a menu with a large selection of soup, food, dessert and drinks. Ordering any of the soup or food alone would have easily exceeded RMB50 in a nice restaurant and it was amazing how the bosses of Da Tong Shui could have made any money with his low prices! What’s more, as a customer, we could have stayed in the room as long as we want with as much food or drinks as we want!

According to the Chinese massage therapists, Da Tong Shui is packed to the brim on weekends and in the weekday evenings. Despite the hundreds of massage therapists available, it is difficult to get a vacancy unless one books ahead in the evenings or the weekends! Wow…

We had good soup and food and watched TV for a couple of hours before deciding to leave. On our way out, we saw a row of computers and decided to spend some surfing the Internet and answering emails; again for free.

Of course, we also wanted to quickly update our blog so that you too, can enjoy the same kind of royal treatment the next time you happen to be in Xiamen, China!

Location of Spa: Jiahe Rd, Xiamen, China
Size of Spa: Hundreds of rooms; several hundred massage therapists
Friendliness: Cold friendliness
Facilities: Showers, bathrooms, internet access, free flow of food/beverages
Pricing: RMB50 for Foot Massage; RMB50 for Tuina, RMB20 for pedicure, RMB30 for Gua-Sha
(Note: USD$1 = RMB8)