Travel Tip: Where Are Taiwan’s Four Great Hot Springs?

The coolness of the autumn evening breeze seems to remind people that hot spring season is just around the corner. In Taiwan, there are now over 100 hot spring locations, each with varying mineral qualities across regions, but few know about the “Taiwan Four Great Hot Springs.” As early as the Japanese colonial era, a Japanese man named Hirata Gen’go opened “Tengu-an” in Beitou, which was the first hot spring hotel in Taiwan’s history and marked the beginning of Taiwan’s hot spring culture. During the Japanese colonial period, the four most famous hot springs in Taiwan were Beitou, Yangmingshan, Guanziling, and Sichongxi. Even today, they remain top choices for many people seeking hot springs in autumn and winter.

Located in Beitou District, Taipei City, “Beitou Hot Springs” is the birthplace of Taiwan’s hot spring culture. The spring water can be divided into three types: white sulfur, blue sulfur, and iron sulfur. There are also quite a number of hot spring hotels in the area. Although “Tengu-an” no longer exists, the approximately century-old Longnai Tang is one of the rare surviving Japanese-style old bathhouses in Beitou and is the oldest existing Japanese-style bathhouse in the area’s hot spring development history. The nearby Sulfur Valley is also a well-known tourist attraction.

Guanziling is often called the “Yangmingshan of Tainan,” and the local hot spring water is gray-black and mud-like—the only mud hot spring in all of Taiwan. The fine, muddy spring water leaves the skin feeling smooth and soft after soaking, making it highly addictive for many dedicated hot spring enthusiasts.