Dongling Hot Springs

Dongling Hot Springs in Fushun, Liaoning province in Manchuria, draws on natural bicarbonate thermal springs enriched with mineral trace elements from the deep geology of the Liaoning coal basin — a landscape shaped by decades of heavy industrial extraction but increasingly developing wellness tourism as an economic alternative. The spring waters, used for therapeutic bathing in a tradition rooted in the thermal cultures of both Han Chinese and Manchu populations of the northeast, are recommended for musculoskeletal and skin conditions. Fushun's extraordinary history — home to the world's largest open-pit coal mine, covering 6.6 kilometres in length, and the site where the last Qing emperor Puyi was held for re-education after 1950 — gives any visit here a historical depth that few Chinese cities can match. The broader Liaoning province, with its Manchu heritage sites, imperial tombs and the remarkable city of Shenyang (Mukden), provides a richly layered context for thermal tourism.