New Hot Spring Park Offers Flower Viewing and Soaking — A Winter Wonderland

Text by MOOK Travel Family Editorial Team

After successfully drilling the hot spring source and establishing extraction facilities in Baolai, Liugui District, Kaohsiung, the Tourism Bureau has opened applications for local commercial users to access the hot springs. Additionally, the city government has created Taiwan’s most distinctive “Baolai Flower Viewing Hot Spring Park,” where foot soaking areas have been set up, making Baolai Hot Springs a popular tourist destination in Kaohsiung once again.

Baolai has long been a renowned hot spring area in Kaohsiung and was once a popular spot for soaking in southern Taiwan, with a thriving hot spring tourism industry. However, after being severely damaged by Typhoon Morakot, the hot spring source in Baolai was buried deep underground by landslides. Thanks to the joint efforts of central and local governments, after seven years of hard work, a new hot spring source was successfully drilled. The water is rich in bicarbonate ions—16 times the standard value—and has a total dissolved solids content 20 times the norm, with a pH of 7.2 (slightly alkaline), making it an exceptionally high-quality bicarbonate spring. It also yields about 170 metric tons of water per day, more than enough for visitors to enjoy.

The “Baolai Flower Viewing Hot Spring Park” will open before the end of the year. The park features a diverse range of plants and flower viewing trails, along with foot soaking pools that utilize the hot spring resources. It aims to attract visitors to Baolai for flower viewing and hot spring soaking, revitalizing the once-flourishing hot spring tourism industry in the region.