Huaqing Hot Spring Xian

The Huaqing Hot Springs is located about 35 kilometers east of Xi'an city at the foot of the Lishan Mountain. For centuries emperors had come here to bathe and enjoy the scenic beauty. The Huaqing Hot Spring is a famous scenic hot spring spot of Xi'an with a history of more than 3000 years and was used by ancient emperors as their imperial villa and excursion centre. Huaqing Hot Spring is famed for both its dainty spring scenery and the romantic love story of Emperor Xuanzong (685-762) and his concubine Yang Guifei in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

King Youwang of the Zhou Dynasty built the Lishan Palace here. Emperor QinsHihuang built a house and a pool of stone and named them the ”Goddess Hot Springs”. Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty expanded the facilities. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty transformed the hot spring wells into pools which were enclosed in the palace rooms, so they are known as the Huaqing Palace or the Huaqing Pools where Emperor Xuanzong and his concubine Yang amused themselves. From then on, “the Nine Dragons Hot Springs” ”the Chenxiang Hall”, etc. have been additionally built. In the Xi'an Incident in December, 1936, patriotic generals Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng arrested Chiang Kai—shek here.

The Hot Springs Palace was built by Emperor Taizong and a walled palace was added by Emperor Xuanzong in 747 A.D. Unfortunately, it was damaged during the An Lushan Rebellion at the middle Tang. The present site was rebuilt on the site of the Qing dynasty structure.

Huaqing Hot Spring is located at the foot of the Lishan Mountain, a branch range of the Qinling Ranges, and stands 1,256 meters high. It is covered with pines and cypresses, looking very much like a dark green galloping horse from a long distance. So it has the name of the Lishan Mountain (Li means a black horse).
The Tang dynasty Emperor Xuan Zong and his favorite lady, Yang Gui Fei used to make their home at Frost Drifting Hall in winter days. When winter came, snowflakes were floating in the air, and everything in sight was white. However, they came into thaw immediately in front of the hall. It owed a great deal to the warm vapor rising out of the hot spring. This is the Frost Drifting Hall that greets us today.

Close by the Frost Drifting Hall lies the Nine Dragon Pool. According to legend, the Central Shaanxi Plain was once stricken by a severe drought in the very remote past. Thus, by the order of the Jade Emperor (the Supreme Deity of Heaven), an old dragon came at the head of eight young ones, and made rain here. Yet when the disaster was just abating, they lowered their guard so much that it became serious again. In a fit of anger, the Jade Emperor kept the young dragons under the Jade Cause Way, with the Morning Glow Pavilion and the Sunset Pavilion built at both ends of it respectively, to make the young dragons spout cleat water all day long to meet the needs of local irrigation. Besides, he had the old dragon confined to the bottom of the Roaring Dragon Waterside Pavilion situated at the upper end of the Jade Causeway, and obliged him to exercise control over the young.

The Nine-Bend Corridor west of the Nine Dragon Pool leads directly to the Marble Boat, which resembles a dragon boat on the water surface. In the Marble Boat lies the Nine Dragon Tang (the Nine Dragon Hot Spring where Emperor Xuan Zong used to take baths). At the head of his court ladies and hundreds of his officials, he would come to the Huanqing Palace to spend his winter days in October of the lunar calendar and return to Chang’an City as the year drew to its close. The Nine Dragon Hot Spring was originally built with crystal jade, whose surface was decorated with the carvings of fish, dragons, birds and flowers. In it twin lotus flowers also carved with white jade could be seen as well. The spring water effused from the break of an earthen jar, and spouted up to the lotus flowers. Hence the name is Lotus Flower Tang (the Lotus Flower Hot Spring).

The Gui Fei Bathing Pool was where Yang Gui Fei, Emperor Xuan Zong’s favorite lady, used to take bath. It was originally built with white jade, and in its center blooming flower spouted water like a spring. The pool looked very much like a Chinese