Guanziling Hot Springs

Guanziling's water comes up grey and thick with suspended clay, one of a small number of true mud springs anywhere, and bathers coat themselves in it. It has been used since the Japanese period and a line of bathhouses runs up the valley. Nearby is the Water and Fire Cave, where natural gas seeps out of a rock face beside a spring and burns continuously, so flame and water sit in the same place.

What you actually see

• The mud springs - grey clay-laden water, rare anywhere in the world.
• The Water and Fire Cave - natural gas burning beside a spring in the same rock face.
• The bathhouses - a line of establishments up the valley, several from the Japanese era.
• The Baihe hills - the country around, planted with lotus that flowers in summer.

When to go

October to April is the hot-spring season. Lotus in the Baihe fields below flowers in June and July. Weekends fill the bathhouses.

Honest expectations

The flame at the Water and Fire Cave has weakened considerably as the gas has depleted and is less impressive than photographs suggest. Bathhouse standards vary widely. The mud stains clothing.

Nearby

Madou is southwest, and Tainan is southwest beyond it.