For the May Day holiday weekend, guests at a hot spring resort in Luoyang, Henan Province, had an unusual treat. They had unlimited supply of apples, lemons and oranges.
However, these three fruits did not come in a fruit platter or basket. It was floating on the hot springs, along with bathers who were free to get any fruit and eat it. Some guests even played with the fruits by balancing it on their faces and bodies.
Some netizens who saw the images were aghast because of the sanitary issue involved. They pointed out that the fruits coming in contact with different bodies raises issues of cleanliness and sanitation, reported The South China Morning Post.
The resort came up with the idea by telling guests that bathing with fruits at hot springs moisturizes and whitens skin. Asia Times explained that idea originated in Korea and Japan, but has also reached China.
Because of the obsession among some Chinese to have lighter skin, some believed the idea introduced by the hot springs resort and willing to eat soaked apples, lemons and oranges in a pool of water where other people also bathed. Outside hot spring resorts with outlandish ideas on how to lighten skin tone, other Chinese use creams, eat certain types of food or undergo cosmetic procedures.
But in Japan, bathing with yuzu fruit in hot springs is to prevent colds during the winter months.