Photo by PQ77wd, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
🇨🇳 China · Guangdong
♨ Temperature
58°C
⛰ Altitude
65 m
⚗ pH
7.8
💧 TDS
780 mg/L
🌊 Flow rate
90 L/s
📅 Established
Ming Dynasty (15th century)
✓ Verified on 2026-07-22
Conghua Hot Springs is South China's most famous thermal resort, located in the verdant Liuxi River valley 75 km north of Guangzhou. The springs have been celebrated in Chinese medical texts since the Ming Dynasty, with the Qing-era physician Ye Tianshi prescribing Conghua waters for digestive and skin conditions. The resort area features over 20 hotel thermal facilities drawing from the same naturally bicarbonated aquifer, set in a landscape of subtropical forests and litchi orchards. Conghua is famously associated with the healthy complexions of its local women — a beauty tradition attributed to regular mineral spring bathing that has made the springs a destination for beauty-conscious visitors across China.
| Bicarbonate | 390 mg/L |
| Sodium | 185 mg/L |
| Silica | 68 mg/L |
| Radon | 0.002 mg/L |
| Fluoride | 1.8 mg/L |
Conghua's springs were first catalogued in Ming Dynasty administrative records in the 15th century, when local officials noted their healing properties and recommended them to the imperial court. The Qing-era Wenquan Garden, built in 1931 as a private retreat for senior officials, preserves colonial-era thermal pavilion architecture alongside traditional Chinese garden design. Sun Yat-sen, the founder of modern China, visited Conghua's springs in 1923.
Conghua has a unique place in Cantonese wellness culture, intertwined with the Lingnan tradition of herbal medicine and preventive health practices. The local belief that Conghua women have the softest skin in Guangdong — attributed to a lifetime of mineral spring bathing — has made the resort a destination for beauty treatments and skin health, integrated with traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) protocols. The annual Litchi Festival in June combines fruit culture with hot spring tourism in a celebration unique to Conghua.
The Conghua municipal government designated the spring catchment area as a water source protection zone in 2005, prohibiting industrial activity within 15 km of the main aquifer. The resort area operates under Guangzhou's ecotourism management plan, with strict limits on visitor numbers per day and mandatory environmental impact assessments for new hotel construction. Geothermal monitoring wells measure spring temperature and pressure quarterly.
Phone+86 20-8786-3333
Websitewww.conghua.gov.cn
AddressWenquan Town, Conghua District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China