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The Nine-Bend Corridor to the west of the Nine-Dragon Pool leads directly to the Marble Boat resembling a dragon boat floating on water. In the Marble Boat lies the Nine-Dragon

Hot Spring Palace where emperor Xuanzong with court ladies and officials used to spend his winter. The Nine-Dragon Hot Spring Pool was originally built with crystal jade beautifully decorated with carvings of fish, birds and flowers. A lotus-flower-shape carving bathed in the spring water spouting from a wellspring hence the name, Lotus Flower Pool.

To the east part of the Huaqing Pool, Source of hot springs and the Five Chamber Building are sightworthy.

The imperial bathing pools from the Tang period were discovered in 1982 by workmen renovating the Guifei Pavilion. Archaeologists found the ruins of four bathing pools include

the Star, Long, Lotus and Guifei pools. The Guifei or Hibiscus pool, dating from 712 A.D.- 756 A.D., has been restored and is open to the public - just for viewing. It is a terraced structure with a central, empty, pool in the shape of a Chinese crab-apple blossom. The fountainhead, designed to represent the stamens of a flower, is a reproduction of the original. A museum was built on the remains and was opened to public in October 1990. On display in the museum are excavations of building materials of the Tang unearthed.

The Baths

The best way to appreciate the Huaqing Hot Springs is to take a bath. The water rises at the temperature of 43C(109F) and contains lime, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate and other minerals, which makes it suitable for bathing and the treatment of quite a few diseases such as dermatitis, rheumatism, arthritis and muscular pain. Climb the steps east of the source of hot springs, and you will gradually see the Five- Room Hall where Chiang Kaishek stayed temporarily during the Xian Incident.Up the winding path, east of the Five-Room Hall, you will see a bridge-like structure. On summer and autumn evenings the sunshine off this bridge in a way that makes it look very much like a rainbow. So it was named the Hovering Rainbow Bridge.