Hot spring bathing area in China looks just like a bubbling hotpot

Chongqing has unveiled a new hot spring bathing area that looks like a bubbling hotpot. The novelty bathing spot in the city’s Shapingba district even has bright red water coloured with Chinese medicinal herbs, floating plastic “vegetables” and giant chopsticks for bathers to snap selfies with.

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The pool opened last Friday and is shaped like a traditional metal hotpot container divided into four sections filled with hot “broth”, according to a Pear Video clip posted on the weekend.

“It’s very comfortable and like a hotpot – it feels both numbing and spicy,” one bather was quoted as saying.

Hotpot is one of the most iconic dishes of Chinese cuisine and made up 22 per cent of dishes sold at restaurants across the country last year, according to a report from food delivery app Meituan Dianping.

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Chongqing and Sichuan versions of the dish are characterised by their use of Sichuan peppercorns, which have a spicy and numbing taste.