I’ve been in China long enough now that not much surprises me. So when my husband and I went to Guantang Fuhai Hotspring Resort over Christmas weekend and the brochure told us to “Come On In and Enjoy our Drug Pool!” we figured, sure, why not? After all, the brochure also told us that we could “cultivate spirit and free from vulgarity here.”
So that night we meandered into the “Chinese Herbal Hot Tub” area. It looked like a tropical Munchkin Land. Sparkling lights were draped around the palm trees. Red lanterns swung from every available protrusion. Rainbow lights danced off the waterfall that cascaded over the fake rocks. It would be a great site for a Grateful Dead show (if only Jerry were still alive!) and a hit of acid. Maybe they weren’t kidding when they said they had a drug pool.
Among the 22 herbal concoctions with names like Dreamy Pool, Dragon Water Pool and Pool for Prolonging Life, was one very special, at least for us, pool. The Coffee Pool. We got to soak in a tub of coffee for as long as we wanted. This was a true Zen coffee experience. We became one with the coffee. We don’t even drink coffee anymore but it was great to soak in it. And the hot coffee came pouring out of a stone goat’s mouth. My favorite animal. The other pools also had stone guardians that dispensed their brew into hot tubs. The pig spouted coconut milk. The little tea pot poured, naturally, hot water over a huge bag of green tea bobbing in the tub. Water barely trickled out of the deer’s mouth but the pool did have round slices of lemon floating in it. Each one had its reputed curative powers for things like purifying the liver, losing weight, relieving uneasiness of body and mind, or strengthening the yang qi.
The next day, Christmas Day, we left. The taxi picked us up at the hotel. We planned to go into town and catch a bus back to Haikou. “Where are you going?” he asked. We told him and he offered to take us for 200 yuan (a little over $20), a good price for a good hour and a half ride. However, the hotel had a lousy restaurant and we hadn’t eaten so we thanked him, but said we wanted to get something to eat first. “No problem,” he told us. He then drove us into Qoing Hai, and took us to a great little noodle place where we drank tea and ate bowls of homemade chicken soup with homemade noodles. We had a great drive home. The day was warm and sunny. The taxi made good time. We made it home in time to open the presents under the potted palm by noon.
