Every week our luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa takes us to a different spot in the Asian continent. Today we are travelling to China to discover you one of the country´s wonders: Jiuzhaigou Valley.

Jiuzhaigou Valley is a nature reserve and national park located in Northern Sichuan in South Western China. It is considered to be the most spectacular natural area in the country and one of the most popular destinations.

Jiuzhaigou Valley is formed by a group of valleys, but only three of them are open to the public. These ones are Zechawa, Rize y Shuzheng. The park is famous for its amazing blue lakes, its dense forests and its waterfalls.

There are 17 groups of waterfalls in Jiuzhaigou. The most famous and impressive one is Luorilang waterfall, which is 100 meters wide and 20 meters high.

At the valley we can find all type of flowers and animals. Jiuzhaigou is home to over 140 bird species and several endangered animal species, such as the giant panda or the Sichuan golden monkey.

Due to this beautiful scenery, Jiuzhaigou Valley has earned the reputation of “a world of fairy tales“.

At the 5 stars resort Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we also have our private Jiuzhaigou. Visit us this summer and enjoy a few days off walking through our dense tropical gardens and relaxing in our spectacular pools.

Every day we discover a new Asian spot at the 5 stars hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa. Today we have travelled to Vietnam to tell you about the incredible Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park.

The Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is a national park located in Quang Binh, about 500 km south of Hanoi. Covering 857.54 km², it has become one of the main tourist attractions in the country.

It was built to protect one of the world´s largest karst regions and the most ancient one in Asia, and to protect the Annamite Range forest ecosystem.

The Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park has over 300 caves and grottoes. And only 20 of them have been explored.

These caves were formed approximately 400 million years ago. They all are embellished by hundreds of spectacular stalactites and stalagmites, and large rivers and underground cascades.

In 2009 a group of British explorers discovered a new cave, which is called Hang Son Doong. It is considered to be the world´s largest cave.

The two most famous caves between tourists are the Phong Nha cave and the Tien Son one.

If you love Asian landscapes, we look forward to seeing you this summer in Southeast Asia in the Mediterranean at the luxury hotel Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa. Our Asian-style design pools will win over you.

The Asian continent keeps surprising us at the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa. Today we are discovering you more about the famous Beijing Opera.

Beijing Opera is considered to be the quintessence of China. In contrast with western opera, it mixes singing, dancing, music and acrobatics.

Its origins date back to the 19th century. It became popular during the Qing Dynasty. It was taken for the first time to Beijing in 1790, for Qianlong Emperor´s birthday.

Local operas were the best way of entertainment for Chinese people. They focused on popular legends and stories people liked. Beijing Opera was established in 1845, after putting together the best of each local opera.

Beijing Opera is a scenic art integrating singing, recitation, performing, dancing and martial arts. Legends, dynasties stories, myths and love and war tales, are the main themes used in this spectacular performance.

At all operas we will find four types of characters: Sheng, it’s a common name of male characters, Dan, the name for female characters, Jing, painted face often refers to male characters, and Chou, the comical one who can be played by both genders.

The facial panting or Lianpu brings back the masks used for the dances during the Tang and Song Dynasties. Each colour represents a different characteristic: a red face symbolizes loyalty, a black one, frankness, white stands for astuteness, while the faces painted with gold and silver colours symbolize gods and Buddha.

The suits are another important part of Beijing Opera. The clothes are never washed, they could discolour or wrinkle, and they are kept folded inside-out, in order to keep its colour and brightness.

At the 5 stars hotel Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we are Asian culture lovers. Enjoy luxury holidays with us at our Asian spot in the Mediterranean.

At the 5 star resort in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we keep discovering new Asian traditions and rites. Today we are taking you to South Korea to fin out about its famous Dano Festival.

The Dano Festival, which is also known as Surit-nal, is one of the main Korean traditional holidays. It takes place every year on the 5^th day of the fifth month of the lunar Korean calendar. It celebrates spring and this year falls on June 21.

Originally, Korean farmers celebrated Dano to wish for a good harvest. The celebration included sharing the food and practicing several activities to strengthen the body. It was considered to be the most important festivity in Korea.

The most famous tradition for women was washing their hair in water boiled with Sweet Flag. They believed it avoided bad omens. Nowadays Korean women still do it to make their hair shiny.

Currently the Dano Festival takes place in the city of Gangneung by the river Namdae. Among the activities developed at the festival, we can find plays, folk dances and traditional and modern ones. The most famous dance is the one with Gwanno masks, which is only performed at Dano.

The festival also includes a ssireum competition, a wrestling match among men, customizing Dano fans, swing and a firework show.

As every Asian tradition, Dano has its own traditional dishes: surichwitteok, a rice cake, and junchiguk, herring soup.

Come live your own Asian experience at Southeast Asia in the Mediterranean. We are looking forward to seeing you at the luxury hotel Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa.

Everyday we are discovering a new Asian spot at the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa. Today we have travelled to China to find out about one of its wonders: the Mount Tai.

The Mount Tai or Taishan is located in Tai’an city in East China’s Shangdong province. Among the Five Sacred Mountains of Taoism, the main religion in China, Mount Tai is the most important one.

It´s a large rock mass covering 25,000 hectares and rising to 1,545 metres. According to Chinese tradition, each day begins with the sun rising at Taishan before it starts its westward journey across the world. Watching the sunrise from the top of the mountain is the aspiration of every Chinese citizen.

The top of the mountain is known as Jade Emperor; only five emperors have been able to reach the peak of the Mount Tai throughout history.

It has been a point of peregrination since 3,000 years ago. According to the legend, Confucius, a famous Chinese thinker, visited the Mount Tai and even drank from one of its rivers. Later, many important leading figures have visited it: emperors, erudite people and political leaders such as Mao Zedong. During their visits, they have left numerous stone inscriptions and different sculptures along the route.

You can visit many temples at Mount Tai: Buddhist temples, Taoist ones and other ones dedicated to the god of the mountain, as the Daimiao temple.

According to the Feng shui doctrine, places with slopes are favourable for the interaction between the physical world and the spiritual one. Besides, Taishan´s stones are considered to be magical and they are used chase away damage.

At the 5 star resorts Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we also have our rituals and ceremonies. If you visit us, take part in our Wishing Fountain Ceremony at the fountain in the Hotel Hall.

At the 5 star resorts Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we keep discovering new Asian spots. Today we are taking you to India to find out more about its famous Konark Sun Temple.

The Sun Temple of Konark is located at Konark, in the state of Odisha in India. It was architecturally conceived as the chariot of the Hindu Sun God Surya.

King Narasimhadev built the temple in the 13th century around 1250. European sailors named it ‘The Black Pagoda’ due to its dirt after being left and unattended in the 16th century. Currently, it looks brown, its natural colour.

There is a famous legend around its construction. According to it, Lord Krishna’s son Samba was smitten with leprosy due to his father’s curse. After a penance of 12 years, Samba visited the God Surya, the healer of all skin diseases, to be cured by him. Surya cured him and in gratitude, Samba built a temple in the honour of Surya.

Besides being one of the most stunning temples in the country, the Sun Temple of Konark is one of India´s most important Brahman sanctuaries. Its prominent reliefs can be divided in three themes: the mythological reliefs, the ones symbolizing the king´s lives and ornamental motifs of animals and plant. The most outstanding ones are the 24 wheels of Surya´s carriage and the six horses, which lead it.

Two huge lions guard the entrance of the temple. They are lied over two war elephants resting over two human bodies. This scene symbolizes the power of the Sun God Surya.

If you are a 100% Asian culture lover, and you would like to visit Asia without leaving Spain, the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa is your holiday destination. Get to know our Asian paradise in the Mediterranean!

At the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we keep discovering different Asian traditions and curiosities. Today we are travelling to China to talk to you about the ancient art of Chinese calligraphy.

Chinese calligraphy is considered both an art and a discipline. In China it occupies a distinguished position due to its ability to bring back emotions. Chinese people compare calligraphy with painting.

It has endured for over 3,000 years. The first Chinese characters were the ones inscribed on tortoise shells and animal bones, which are called Jiaguwen. According to tradition, Tsang Chieh, the legendary inventor of Chinese writing, was inspired by animals´ tracks on sand and mud to develop his discipline.

There are six different categories for Chinese characters, which are known as Liu Chu. They are: Hsiang hsing, Chih shih, Hui yi, Hsing sheng, Chia chieh y Chuan chu.

Through the basic tools known as “four treasures of study” or wen fang szu pao (writing brush, ink stick, paper and ink slab), Chinese calligraphers have been able to develop different and numerous writing styles. They can be classified in five groups: Chuan Shu, seal script; Hsing Shu, running hand; K’ai Shu, regular script; Li Shu, official script; y Ts’ao Shu, cursive hand.

Chinese calligraphy is one of the most representative disciplines in the field of traditional Chinese art. Chinese people of different social classes have collected calligraphy works for years. They consider that by practicing Chinese calligraphy people are able to refine their personalities and change their point of view.

At the 5 star resorts Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we adore Asia and its culture. If you would like to feel Asian tradition at first sight, come see us at our Asian spot in the Mediterranean.

Every corner in our luxury resort in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa takes us to a different place in Asia. Today we are travelling to Iran discover you one of its most emblematic buildings: the Golestan Palace.

The Golestan Palace is located in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The oldest of the historic monuments in the city, the palace complex is made up of several buildings set around a beautiful garden.

The wonderful Golestan Palace is an example of the successful integration of Persian architecture and crafts with Western influences.

Tehran´s historic Citadel was built during the reign of Tahmasp I in the 16^th century. Once Aga Mohammad Khan of Qajar dynasty chose Tehran as his capital, the Golestan Palace became the official residence of the royal Qajar family.

During the Pahlavi Era, from 1925 to 1979, the palace was used for different purposes, mainly for formal royal receptions. In between 1925 and 1945, many buildings of the palace were destroyed on the orders of Reza Shah. He stated the palace was blocking the growth of a modern city.

After the Islamic Revolution in 1979, the Golestan Palace became a historic and architectonic museum. Some of the most important museums you can find at the palace are the Marble Throne Musem, the Negar Khan one and the Sham-al museum.

If you are an Asian culture lover, we suggest you to visit our 5 star resorts Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa, where you will be able to enjoy the Asian luxury in the Mediterranean.

At the luxury hotel Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we keep discovering new surprises from the Asian continent. Today we want to tell you about fashion, that´s why we are taking you to Indonesia to find out more about the batik technique.

Batik is a technique of wax-resist dyeing applied to cloth. It comes from Java Island. The word batik is derived from the word ambatik, which means ‘a cloth with little dots’.

During the process, selected areas of the cloth are covered with hot wax keeping them blocked out. The parts covered in wax resist the dye and keep their original colours. In order to draw the designs, people who make batik use a spouted tool called canting. After the final dyeing the wax is removed and the cloth is ready.

The most used fabric for batik clothing is cotton and silk. The dye is produced from Indonesian plants, spices and wood. For the wax, manufacturers either use synthetic wax or bee wax.

At first, batik motifs were sacred and showed the status of the person who wore it.

Batik is an essential part of Indonesian life and culture. There are different ways of wearing and making it, influenced by local beliefs. Many regions in Indonesia have their own traditional motifs and colours. Java´s north coast typical batik is shiny and with animal and flower motifs; and Java Central´s one is with geometric motifs. There are registered over three thousand different batik designs.

Batik fabric is used for all types of clothes, from dresses to tablecloths. Designers from all over the world use this cloth and design due to its colour, exoticism, elegance and comfort. You can also crate your own batik designs, it´s very easy.

At the 5 star resorts in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa you will be able to contemplate wonderful Asian designs. Visit us and travel around Asia without leaving Spain!

At the luxury hotel in Alicante Asia Gardens Hotel & Thai Spa we worship wellbeing and relaxation. That´s why we are taking you to China to find out more about Traditional Chinese Medicine, in particular about two of its modalities: acupuncture and moxibustion.

Acupuncture and moxibustion are two therapeutic methods from Traditional Chinese Medicine. Their effectiveness has made them expand all over the world.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, the human body is a small universe with a set of complete interconnected systems. Through acupuncture and moxibustion, these systems can stimulate and maintain the healthy function of the human body and heal diseases.

Acupuncture involves the insertion of thin needles at strategic points of those systems of the body, and moxibustion is a form of heat therapy in which dried plant materials of Chinese mugwort called moxa are burnt on the surface of the skin.

Acupuncture experts check their patients´ pulse to derive a diagnosis. Pulse diagnosis is one of the most important tools used in Chinese acupuncture. According to this method, each organ has a specific pulsation.

Acupuncture and moxibustion are considered to date back to ancient Chinese dynasties, which started using stone and bronze needles for healing and later, thin metal ones. These techniques were taught orally and through demonstrations and they were transmitted from teachers to disciples and between families.

If you visit us, Asia Garden´s Thai Spa offers a complete variety of treatments to suit every taste, which let naturally release the body and optimise the harmony of body and mind. Enjoy unforgettable sensations at our Asian relax paradise!