Now that the weather has cooled down, you may want to head over to the famous hot springs north of Guangzhou for a nice bit of relaxation but is it safe for young children to use them? Can you even get there without a car?

*Disclaimer: This post contains some affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission from any bookings/transactions you make through them. I only mention resorts I stayed at and feel confident recommending.

The answer is Yes and No, in other words, it depends but I would encourage you to try! Let’s start with a brief information about hot springs location itself though.

Many of Guangzhou residents choose to enjoy the hot springs located very close to the city, in Wenquan Town (literally, hot spring town) in Conghua district-about an hour’s drive from the city centre. It has several resorts next to each other, from small B&Bs to large, fancy ones like Biquan Kongzhong, which we stayed in recently. Of course, aside from Wenquan Town (which I will review separately as otherwise this post would be even longer than it already is!), one can also find hot spring resorts elsewhere in Conghua and Zengcheng districts, e.g. in Dusit Devarana or Just Stay . If you wish to travel with friends or a larger family, you may consider renting a villa-many come with an outdoor hot tub; not the same as natural hot springs but will certainly do the job of warming you up!

Others might decide to head a bit further away from the city, to the wilder, mountainous area of Nankunshan/Longmen or to Qingyuan (separate posts coming!), also north of Guangzhou. That is where you’ll find the largest and, arguably, most popular hot spring resorts, such as Nankun Shanju Hot Spring resort. Not surprisingly, the bigger the resort, the wider the choice of hot springs.

Hot springs

The hot springs themselves don’t vary much from resort to resort, they are mineral-rich and most contain various ingredients with medicinal properties, from tangerine peel to jasmine tea and anything in between. They are of differing temperatures, ranging from icy cold ones to 40 degrees Celsius hot! Ouch! You’d be surprised how long some people can stay in those! Generally, Chinese people believe that soaking in hot springs is very beneficial for one’s health, can help with pain, fatigue and all sorts of ailments but unlike the Japanese in onsens, they don’t tend to get naked! I’m not sure if it’s a Guangdong thing but I am relieved that nakedness is not compulsory in hot springs here, unlike in hot springs located in other parts of China. Perhaps I just got lucky with my resort choices!No naked bums to watch here, thank you very much, which is another reason why hot springs here are suitable for kids of all ages.

Adults can soak in the hot springs however long they want although, I believe, there are some guidelines. For younger children, is it better not to stay in any one hot spring pool for longer than 5 minutes and they certainly shouldn’t enter the very cold or very hot ones, which is logical. Needless to say, babies should not be in any type of hot spring. I found that our son, the energetic munchkin that he is, likes hot spring pools but his favourite is the warm one with tiny fish nibbling at his feet because it is ticklish and fun:)

Resorts

Luckily, many hot springs resort also offer indoor and/or outdoor pools, often heated, and some even have children’s water playgrounds with special whirlpools and slides. Naturally, the resort owners know their prime customers are families and are usually well-prepared, meaning there is likely to be an indoor and/or outdoor playground and a restaurant menu with dishes aimed at kids. Sometimes, they also have their own theme parks and run group activities, at extra cost of course, but only during the holidays. Most resorts will have family-themed rooms. Overall, hot spring resorts are very suitable for families with kids and your little ones won’t be bored!

Communication

Despite some resorts being huge, don’t expect staff to speak English. I know this may put some expat families off and I can understand why you would hesitate before going on a mini break somewhere, where you know you will struggle linguistically, but based on what I had witnessed over the years, I dare say vast majority of guests in those resort are Chinese and thus I am not surprised they don’t cater to international customers. I should add though that many of the resorts I have stayed in do have signs in English around the hotel buildings and in the hot spring area, with staff being very helpful too. Plus there’s always AI assistants…

Surroundings

Aside from the facilities inside the hotels and within resort grounds, the countryside surrounding them is gorgeous and offers a variety of attractions, from easy, beautiful hikes to relaxing lake/river boat rides, impressive waterfalls and stunning flower fields. We particularly like the Nankunshan area since the mountains there are higher offering more spectacular views.

Moreover, there can’t be countryside without country food!Guangdong is known for Hakka food(ke jia cai) and so many restaurants will either serve that of the typical countryside food(long jia cai), which I described in my Jingxia Village post here. When we stayed in Wenquan area, we ate in one of my favourite countryside restaurants. As per usual, it doesn’t look like much from the outside, or inside to be honest, BUT the family who run it are all very nice, they have toys for kids to play with and the food is so tasty! No English on the menu, which is typical, but at least they have some photos to help you make your choice or you can always just point to the dishes other tables are having:) In order to reach most restaurants, you do need a car or an exact address for Didi but in a place like Wenquan there are plenty of restaurants around the resorts/hotels.

If your kids are older and you wish to see pure nature as opposed to tourist-friendly scenic spots, you can, as there are hundreds of wilder hiking trails around, cycling/mountain biking is also very popular but unless you have a very accurate hiking APP, map or a guide, I’m not sure I would venture out on my own as those areas I mention are massive. If you’re after budget accommodation, home stays in scenic spots are your best bet as most offer basic rooms at a very low price. The only problem is, many are not listed on any booking website so I guess this would depend on how adventurous you are!

Less known hot spring areas

Interestingly, most expats are familiar with the hot springs north of the city but they can also be found in other parts of Guangdong. Officially, there are 54 certified hot springs-be aware that many hotels and B&Bs will heat the water up and don’t actually draw it from natural hot springs. The most famous ones are described in detail here but if you’d like to visit some beautiful resorts further away from Guangzhou and see more of the province, just search for hot springs around the cities of Zhuhai, Huizhou, Zhongshan or Jiangmen (all within a 2 hour drive). Then you could, for example, combine a stay in a resort with a visit to one of the above-mentioned, less popular but pretty cities, which I wrote about here.

Where to find details?

As foreigners, we may find it difficult to find out what is there to see and do outside the resort we have chosen to stay in and that is due to a severe lack of detailed information in English. I found that Trip.com is very good for this sort of thing, just go to ‘nearby attractions’ tab on the page of your resort and it will show you what there is to see. This is exactly what I did when we stayed at one resort in Conghua-had I not checked, we would have never known there was a gorgeous stream, where our son played in the water, just 5min drive away from the hotel!

When I search for hot springs or any other attractions, for that matter, I tend to use GDToday or Guangzhou International-a government website with quite a lot of information about things to do in and around the city, plus district’s own English websites, e.g. this one about Huadu. Besides, I always try to write reviews on Tripadvisor about the places I had stayed in and visited, hoping it could help someone overcome the lack-of-info problem. Even though my knowledge of Guangdong is limited, do feel free to reach out to me with any questions you may have and I will try my best to help!

Which hot spring resort would you recommend?

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Info:

Getting there: In terms of hot springs in general-car is your best option. Even if Didi/taxi would be willing to take your family to a particular hotel in Conghua, I imagine it’d be hard to get a taxi back to the city. The only exception could be Wenquan Town, which you can reach by metro! You could take metro Line 14 to Dongfeng Station (final stop), and take a taxi from there to your resort in Wenquan. It will take a while but if you don’t have a car, it’s great that there is at least a public transport option! Don’t forget that you’ll still need a car to get to the surrounding attractions unless you know you will just stay in the hotel.

Food: In hotels, which usually offer a buffet and a Chinese restaurant. The food at most buffets is average at best but they are convenient if you don’t speak/read Chinese.

Lots of countryside restaurants near every resort/hot spring area and I’m afraid it is a case of parking your car and checking the place out for yourself. No English menus and usually no photos either but who needs photos when AI can translate Chinese menus in seconds, right:)? I can definitely recommend the restaurant right outside the entrance to Just Stay Resort, which offers yummy food cooked and served in bamboo sticks!

Price: The best ones can cost up to a 1200rmb per night, even outside high season, however average price is around 800rmb/night. When I say best, I don’t count the uber expensive and luxurious resorts, which would set you back several thousands for their most basic room!

Age: All ages though I must say, I have never seen kids over the age of 12 in any of the hot spring resorts I’ve stayed at.