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Oriental Spring Is for OGs

We were first banging on about Oriental Spring back in 2021 for saving our whole damn summer that year with their lavish and delightfully absurd hot springs, swimming pool, spa, sauna, massage, napping area, glamping area, movie rooms, KTV rooms, and everything-else-you-could-ever-want-in-life facilities located at the end of Line 10. 

Now, after some events, Oriental Spring is BACK BABY!!!! with even more amenities, niceties, and luxuries to get us to make the trip down. 

To wit: more Japanese mineral pools — yes, plz — even more restaurants — yus — new playground facilities for tots — hey sure, why not — and a live band that kicks out the jams every night at 6pm.  Wha-hey! 

Oriental Spring: Once Again for the First Time

Let’s start at the beginning because it’s been a while and who can even remember what life was even like in 2021. If you’re new to town or don’t remember, Oriental Spring is a crazy awesome hot springs resort that appeared at the end of Line 10 a few years back.  It's a wondrous place full of marvel and mystery, hopes, and dreams, but mostly swimming pools, saunas, cheap beer, and like... everything. 

They just put everything in it. 

A Resort in Your Backyard

We say “resort” but that’s a bit misleading because it sounds like you have to take a plane to some tropical paradise somewhere to get there and it’s all expensive and stuff. This is not the case with Oriental Spring. It’s just a robust subway ride to Hangzhong Road station on Line 10. 

And then you walk right in with  — 108rmb for one adult; 208rmb for two adults; 49rmb for kids — and there you are.

Your full pass includes all the pools and springs, nine saunas, kids’ play areas, resting places, showers, glamping rooms, napping rooms, bookstore, multiple restaurants and bars, KTV, and more, more, more. 

It’s basically just a big crazy experience that you can go spend the day at, swimming, jaccuzi’ing, napping, tanning, eating poolside, drinking poolside, rocking out, getting massages, and then you roll back into town like a fat cat on the proletariat chariot, Line 10. 

New Water Features: Imported Japanese Hot Springs 

So yeah, number one, you’re going for the pools. And they’ve got tons of them, including a proper-sized fitness pool if you want to be that guy and swim laps. It’s not deep though so you’re not going to be working on your diving skills. Generally, in terms of water facilities, it’s more about resort vibes with relaxing being the order of the day. 

Japanese-Style Soaking

The new additions this year are official Japanese imported spas of which there are five, with suitably Japanese-sounding names: Iron Hot Spring, Alkaline Pure Spring, and White Burn Hot Spring, among them. Japanese people know a thing or two about hot springs, we gather. There’s accompanying documentation about the medicinal and curative properties of each of those for your edification. Nice. 

More Newness: Improved Kids’ Facilities

Also new and improved this year at Oriental Spring: the stuff for your kids. The venue as a whole is very kid-friendly — it’s big and bright with snazzy jazzy colors and shapes everywhere — but in particular, they’ve built a whole new play area for the little ones. It’s kinda tough to find inexpensive family-friendly activities with your kids in this city, so if you’re looking for something to do for a weekend, keep this one on file. 

Getting Lost in the Craziness of It All

And yes the place is indeed massive and redonkulous, with twisting corridors leading you into weird glamping areas, secret napping rooms, KTV areas, pool tables, claw machine arcades, coffee shops, and even bookstores. Lots of Harry Potter fantasy kinda business up in the fiction section here. 

The Food Situation: Quanying Restaurant for Some Casual Chinese

Eating at the restaurants is extra and for food, you’ve got a couple of different options — three to be exact. The casual Chinese restaurant is cost-effective and nice and clean after some recent renovations. Ideal for a casual lunch for groups. They’ve got a nice range on the menu, including Shouxi pot, Hong Kong-style dim sum, and dry pot stir fry. Imemently decent. 

Ah, But Of Course — The Upscale 5D Mapping Place

A new addition this summer is the cutting-edge fusion restaurant up on the third floor, which is also a new addition since we’ve been back. This one is run by an independent management company and they’ve gone deep in the paint on high-end distractions for the young and rich — private party rooms with 5D projections all over the walls of Finding Nemo and such. That’s a separate thing though. If you’re feeling adventurous to try it out, it should set you back 200-300rmb per person for a meal. 

Baller's Night Out

Maybe when you visit for a swim you can wander up to this floor to see if you want to rent a room out for a nutty party sometime.

The Pool-Side Option: The Deck

This is our choice of the three because we’re lazy and it’s right next to the pool and it’s no-brainer deep fried food like skewers, Korean chicken, burgers, fries, sandwiches, and wings. And it’s dirt cheap. Like under 100rmb for tons of stuff cheap. Beer is 35rmb Coronas too, which is fine and dandy. Thumbs up to The Deck! 

The Entertainment: Bands and DJs Nightly

Another new thing: live entertainment! From 6pm to 9pm, they’re hosting in DJs and bands to kick out the summer jams poolside at The Deck. Music is Chinese pop and Top 40s dance music delivered by people with really snazzy hair which is exactly what we requested, incidentally enough! 

The Locker Rooms Situation

The locker rooms are sweet. This is good ‘cause the locker room situation can be a bit tricky in these kinds of places. Not so with Oriental Spring. Big and spacious — clean and well appointed —  with fancy hair dryers, lotions, shampoos, hair wax, and even complimentary sandals. It’s the little things. Life shouldn’t be so damn hard. 

The Masssages Situation

Their physiotherapy section has all the classic hits: full body massage, hot stone massages, oil massages, foot massages, and more. Prices are extra for a rubdown ranging from a couple hundred to around 600rmb for the high end stuff. Prices are in line with similar massages you’d find at the city center. 

The Sauna Game Is Fire

In addition to the pools, one of the main draws of Oriental Spring is their sauna selection, featuring so many facilities, you can reasonably call it a "sauna selection". These are all done up decore-wise to look classic and rustic (Nordic?) to dazzling and futuristic (very Shanghai). 

There are two private saunas each in the designated men's and women's areas, and then in the non-gender specific public areas, they've got five shared saunas to get steamed up in. All of those are included in the entry fee. 

There You Have It...

So yeah, Oriental Spring, have at it. Brand new Japanese spas, brand new food and drink, much-improved kid's areas, and some floppy-haired musos keeping you entertained as your afternoon dips into the evening. Super cheap, super convenient to get to, and has all kinds of diversions for kids of all ages. for that cheap entry deal. 

Get Yourself There

Take the subway. Oriental Spring is almost next to the Hangzhong Lu station on Line 10. You just need to cut through the park. There are signs pointing you in the right direction. You can also take bus 911; the terminal station is just in front of the place. Look for the giant red building in the middle of that park.