imkevinxu

So after that exhausting Friday the 13th, my roommate and I decided we really could use a break so we hit the town and after dinner at Hooter’s wound up in this random shady parking lot near the bar street staring at a building called “No. 8 Hotspring Business Club”.

Totally sketch but after walking around the parking lot we count up to 10 Ferrari’s and 6 Bentley’s, we knew this place had something going on. My roommate was brave enough to go in and ask them what this place was and to both our surprises, it was actually just a huge hotspring bathhouse. At 186 kuai for 18 hours, we thought we had misheard but the sign said the same thing. That’s about US$30 for 18 hours. We got there at midnight and could have stayed until 6pm.

The place was magnificent and a totally new experience for us Americans. Pictures weren’t allowed but this if probably the best explanation of a similar place http://www.gadling.com/2007/05/02/a-canadian-in-beijing-steamy-bathhouse-in-shanghai/

Totally nude and we only had a small towel on the first floor which had 6 different hot springs including one with small fish that would apparently nibble on your foot’s dead skin cells for a little extra. The entire place was basically ala carte, standard price for the 18 hours and then additional costs for various services.

But included with the entrance fee was also access to the full open buffet, internet bar, lounge area, and personal TV/Lazyboy reclining sofa room. I went ahead to also get a professional massage and it was wonderfully relaxing before going to the sofa room and watching TV / falling asleep. I actually was able to watch Fei Cheng Wu Rao (非诚勿扰), a popular but controversial matchmaking show, along with the first movie I was able to understand fully in Chinese.

The next morning, feeling totally refreshed we decided to head back around noon.