The first reports of bathing in Yangzhou originated before 200 BC. In Yangzhou, a city in Jiangsu Province in China, locals bathe by filling up pots with water. In ancient Yangzhou natives from the Han dynasty until the Tang dynasty bathed at home. Public baths were not available.
According to the three knives of Yangzhou, written by Wang Xianxin, public bathhouses appeared in Yangzhou as early as the beginning of the 11th century AD, in the Northern Song Yuanfeng area.
During the Qing dynasty Yangzhou's bath industry greatly developed. Xu Ning Zhang opened the first public bathhouse in Yangzhou.
During the Chinese revolution, Yangzhou had 33 bathhouses. The number of bathhouses in Yangzhou then grew to more than 260. As of 2002, Yangzhou's bathhouse industry employed over 5,000 people. Its annual revenue exceeded 500 million yuan. In Yangzhou's main urban area alone, bathhouses serve around 30,000 customers every day. [1]
The people of Yangzhou bathe for health benefits and as a symbol of their culture and civilization. Bathing signifies their quality of life and a spirit of enjoyment. Contemporary bath centers have changed from places of relaxation to serving communities. There are spacious bathing areas along with various kinds of cultural bathing facilities throughout Yangzhou. This allows visitors to enjoy physical and mental relaxation along with pleasure, combined with soft lighting and elegant decor. [2] [3]
Many bathhouses in China name themselves as "Yangzhou bathhouse", although most of them are not true to their names. In an authentic Yangzhou bathhouse, attendants call their customers "boss", then hand each of them a hot towel and lead them to their seats. They also give them a cup of hot green tea. After guests disrobe, waiters use a clothes pole to put their clothes in a pile, which is raised about 3 meters off the ground to ensure the safety of the customers’ money and other valuables. In order to avoid catching a cold, guests are given a large towel in the water. Workers in the pool help guests bathe. When the clients get out of the water, waiters use six warm towels to dry their bodies, heads, face, legs and feet. The use eight movements to perform this—padding, cabling, carrying, rolling, dipping, dropping, twisting, and squeezing—are quick and effective. After the drying off, waiters bid their guests farewell. [4]
A sauna is a room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a sauna is typically used to measure temperature; a hygrometer can be used to measure levels of humidity or steam. Infrared therapy is often referred to as a type of sauna, but according to the Finnish sauna organizations, infrared is not a sauna.
Hygiene is a set of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refers to maintaining the body's cleanliness. Hygiene activities can be grouped into the following: home and everyday hygiene, personal hygiene, medical hygiene, sleep hygiene, and food hygiene. Home and every day hygiene includes hand washing, respiratory hygiene, food hygiene at home, hygiene in the kitchen, hygiene in the bathroom, laundry hygiene, and medical hygiene at home.
A bathroom is a room in which people wash their bodies or parts of their bodies. It can contain one or more of the following plumbing fixtures: a shower, a bathtub, a bidet, and a sink. The inclusion of a toilet is common. There are also specific toilet rooms, only containing a toilet, which in North American English tend to be called "bathrooms", "powder rooms" or "washrooms", as euphemisms to conceal their actual purpose, while they in British and Irish English are known as just "toilets" or possibly "cloakrooms" - but also as "lavatories" when they are public.
In Japan, onsen are hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them. There are approximately 25,000 hot spring sources throughout Japan, and approximately 3,000 onsen establishments use naturally hot water from these geothermally heated springs.
Sentō (銭湯) is a type of Japanese communal bathhouse where customers pay for entrance. Traditionally these bathhouses have been quite utilitarian, with a tall barrier separating the sexes within one large room, a minimum of lined-up faucets on both sides, and a single large bath for the already washed bathers to sit in among others. Since the second half of the 20th century, these communal bathhouses have been decreasing in numbers as more and more Japanese residences now have baths. Some Japanese find social importance in going to public baths, out of the theory that physical proximity/intimacy brings emotional intimacy, which is termed skinship in pseudo-English Japanese. Others go to a sentō because they live in a small housing facility without a private bath or to enjoy bathing in a spacious room and to relax in saunas or jet baths that often accompany new or renovated sentōs.
A hammam, called a Moorish bath and a Turkish bath by Westerners, is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited from the model of the Roman thermae. Muslim bathhouses or hammams were historically found across the Middle East, North Africa, al-Andalus, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and in Southeastern Europe under Ottoman rule.
In ancient Rome, thermae and balneae were facilities for bathing. Thermae usually refers to the large imperial bath complexes, while balneae were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed in great numbers throughout Rome.
Bathing is the act of washing the body, usually with water, or the immersion of the body in water. It may be for personal hygiene, religious ritual or therapeutic purposes. By analogy, especially as a recreational activity, the term is also applied to sun bathing and sea bathing.
Hot Springs National Park is an American national park in central Garland County, Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Hot Springs, the county seat. Hot Springs Reservation was initially created by an act of the United States Congress on April 20, 1832, to be preserved for future recreation. Established before the concept of a national park existed, it was the first time that land had been set aside by the federal government to preserve its use as an area for recreation. The hot spring water has been popularly believed for centuries to possess medicinal properties, and was a subject of legend among several Native American tribes. Following federal protection in 1832, the city developed into a successful spa town.
Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other criteria.
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters goes back to prehistoric times. Such practices have been popular worldwide, but are especially widespread in Europe and Japan. Day spas and medspas are also quite popular, and offer various personal care treatments.
The banya is a traditional Russian steam bath that utilizes a wood stove. It is a significant part of Russian culture, and is typically conducted in a small room or building designed for dry or wet heat sessions. The high heat and steam cause bathers to perspire, and traditionally, genders were segregated in the banya, with separate rooms for each sex.
Bathing played a major part in ancient Roman culture and society. It was one of the most common daily activities and was practised across a wide variety of social classes. Though many contemporary cultures see bathing as a very private activity conducted in the home, bathing in Rome was a communal activity. While the extremely wealthy could afford bathing facilities in their homes, private baths were very uncommon, and most people bathed in the communal baths (thermae). In some ways, these resembled modern-day destination spas as there were facilities for a variety of activities from exercising to sunbathing to swimming and massage.
Hamam al-Sammara was a hammam in the Zeitoun Quarter of the Old City of Gaza. It was situated 3 meters (9.8 ft) below street level. It was owned by Salim Abdullah al-Wazeer. The bathhouse was destroyed by airstrike from Israeli forces in December 2023; at the time it was the only active hammam in Gaza.
Beppu Onsen (別府温泉) is an extensive hot spring system in the city of Beppu, Ōita, Japan. There are eight distinct major thermal spring zones called "Beppu Hatto".
Greek baths were bath complexes suitable for bathing and cleaning in ancient Greece, similar in concept to that of the Roman baths. Greek baths are a feature of some Hellenized countries. These baths have been found in Greece, Egypt, Italy, and there is even one located in Marseille, France. Some of the first baths have been dated back to the 5th century BCE. The public baths had a gradual development into the flourishing, culturally-significant structures of the Hellenistic age. The multiple locations of the baths throughout the Mediterranean offer different, culturally-unique developments.
The Roman Berytus are located in the middle of downtown Beirut, Lebanon between Banks Street and Capuchin Street. The remains of a Roman bath of Berytus now surrounded by government buildings were found and conserved for posterity.
The Stabian Baths are an ancient Roman bathing complex in Pompeii, Italy, the oldest and the largest of the 5 public baths in the city. Their original construction dates back to ca. 125 BC, making them one of the oldest bathing complexes known from the ancient world. They were remodelled and enlarged many times up to the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Chinese bathhouses have thousands of years of history and consist of numerous variations. The Chinese word for bathhouses in general is zǎotáng (澡堂); although in the stricter sense may refer to traditional, low-cost Chinese bathhouses to contrast with modern, upmarket Chinese bathhouses known as xǐyù zhōngxīn (洗浴中心) or just xǐyù (洗浴). Hot springs and spas are called wēnquán (温泉).