【Editor's note】
Year after year, the way of celebrating the Spring Festival changes. Since when did the family problem of "go to your house for the New Year or go to my house for the New Year" have a new solution; since when did the social relationships during the Spring Festival have been quietly reconstructed... Year after year, the same Spring Festival continues Witness new phenomena, give birth to new careers, and bring new feelings. China News Network launched the "New Spring Festival Illustrated Book" plan to record the changes in annual customs and freeze the changing China.
China News Service, Yantai, February 15th (Zhang Yuhui) Where to go during the New Year? In addition to cooking a few delicious dishes and going to restaurants with family and friends, "bathing in the pond" is definitely an indispensable New Year ritual for northern coastal people. Nowadays, hot springs are no longer just a leisure place for the elderly to recuperate and middle-aged people to chat, but they are also a good place for young people to celebrate the New Year.
This Spring Festival, China News Network visited and found that young people are pouring into major hot spring stores. In addition to providing a set of indispensable bathing services such as "washing, soaking, rubbing, steaming and massage", many stores have also become new New Year gathering spots for eating, drinking and playing.
The lobby of a hot spring store. Photo by Zhang Yuhui
Hot springs quietly become a new gathering spot during the Spring Festival
During the Spring Festival, China News Network found on major e-commerce platforms that major hot spring stores had posted "business as usual" signs.
I take a shower, sit in the hot spring pool and soak for ten to twenty minutes, and then lie on the bathing bed and rub myself. This process usually only takes about an hour. But at a certain hot spring store, Liu Qian, who came to experience it, came in after lunch and it was already dark when she finished taking a bath.
Walking into the women's hot spring pool, there is a sign on the wall next to the hot spring pool on the first floor that says "the best time to soak in the hot spring is 10-20 minutes", but Liu Qian "lost her skin in the pool and hasn't been called to take a bath yet." After lunch time, there were more and more people in the hot spring pool. One person came to enjoy it, three generations of a family came to soak together, and some people like Liu Qian and her friends met for a party.
"The most embarrassing thing about going home during the Chinese New Year is having an honest meeting with classmates I didn't know well in the hot spring pool. In the past, everyone went to eat and watch movies during the Chinese New Year, but now they all run to the bathing pool," Liu Qian said.
Walking up to the bathing area on the second floor, there is a series of programs written on the stairs. You can choose a basic bathing program, or you can choose fancy bathing programs such as salt bath, bee milk bath, and red wine bath. Liu Qian lay down on the bathing bed. The bathing aunt poured water on her, put on the bathing towel and started to rub her over and over. The force was deep and very "sandy", making Liu Qian "feel like a fish on the chopping board."
"I haven't been idle this year. Basically all of us, a dozen or so, have been back since the second and third years of junior high school." The auntie said to Liu Qian while rubbing the bath. After the last rub, she patted Liu Qian's back and quickly packed up the bathing bed after she got up. "The next guest of honor -"
A book bar in a hot spring store. Photo by Zhang Yuhui
"Compared to eating and drinking, this kind of party is more healthy"
China News Network visited and found that hot spring stores are no longer just places to soak in hot springs, but also have book bars, cinemas, chessboard rooms, singing bars, tea bars... all kinds of entertainment methods.
Walking up to the third floor, there are a large number of books arranged in an orderly manner in the book bar. On the seats on the side, customers in twos and threes are either lying down and concentrating with their eyes closed, or sitting together to chat, and some people gathered together to play cards. Liu Qian and her friends found an empty sofa and chatted about what had happened over the past year.
"I prefer this quiet way of leisure to eating and drinking." Liu Qian's friend Wang Yun said that the New Year's Eve dinner and the meals she ate when visiting relatives put "too much burden" on her stomach. Now , she and her friends gather for the New Year and no longer tend to eat and drink. Chatting here is a good choice.
After soaking in the hot spring, taking a bath, steaming in the sauna, and taking a short rest in the book bar, Wang Yun and his wife came to the cinema area. Here, customers can not only watch movies by themselves, but also experience massage services. While watching the movie and feeling the masseur's techniques, Wang Yun felt more relaxed and comfortable. Here, she experienced a sense of peace apart from the hustle and bustle of the New Year.
"Compared to visiting relatives and paying New Year's greetings in a lively manner, a group of us want to stay here. Even without a mobile phone, I can stay here for a whole day." Wang Yun said. (The names of the interviewees in this article are pseudonyms) (End)