By Parker Walker
Professor Giovanni Gurnari, vice chairman of the FEMTEC, international organization of the research into the health benefits of treatment by hotsprings, claimed that international experience and science will bring the hotsprings of Chongqing into a new era. He explained; Chongqing has a 1000 year history of hotsprings and “many different resources” that can be tapped for more sustainable development and the promotion of health and wellness, and that FEMTEC can bring its international scientific experience accumulated in other countries with hotspring traditions, such as Italy, Greece and Romania, into Chongqing.
“Hotsprings in other parts of China are like waterparks”, stated Giovanni. He hopes that international experience in thermalism, the science of using hot water to rehabilitate and cure ailments, can change people’s mindsets. He stressed that not only treatment can be improved, but that the quality of water can be standardized and made more environmentally sustainable in the future. This is part of an overall “health tourist package” that he hopes he can help Chongqing offer to foreign travellers in the future, using Chongqing’s abundant hotsprings resources. This package includes other natural rehabilitation methods, such as forest therapy, treatment by walking in the forest accompanied by trained doctors.
Giovanni concluded by saying that the establishment of the Asia Coordinating Office of FEMTEC in Beibei will bring the 1000 year old recreational tradition here in Chongqing into a new era by transferring the science and experience and combining it with local conditions. He was excited about the future of hotsprings and thermalism in Chongqing and expects it to be an example to China and even the world.