Close your eyes and imagine that you are lying by the Dead Sea, breathing in the healthy, fresh air, listening to the waves crashing on the beach, one slowly after another. Apart from the fact that you are actually in Beijing’s Central Business District, the rest doesn’t require much imagination at all when visiting WowFresh, home to Beijing’s first salt rooms. Even the sound of the sea is beamed in via speakers, to give you the full immersive experience.
The premise of salt treatment, also known as halotherapy, originated in Eastern Europe and usually involves a room with walls caked in thick layers of Dead Sea salt crystals; a floor covered with salt as if it were sand; and a halo generator spraying finely granulated Dead Sea salt into the air. This Dead Sea salt, imported especially for its professed healing qualities, is said to alleviate pressures on the respiratory system that come with living in a polluted city.
Haiyan Wang, the project coordinator at WowFresh, explains: “We put our focus on children who suffer from respiratory disease: asthma, bronchitis, COPD, and more. It has been proven to significantly reduce attacks and clears the airways, allowing for better breathing and a more robust immune system.”
Patients we spoke to swear by the treatment, particularly those suffering from skin conditions, relieving acne and psoriasis, for example, or respiratory conditions such as sinus allergies and asthma. It’s safe to say that with Beijing’s high pollution levels, the capital’s long-term citizens have a higher concentration of these types of medical ailments.
Amy Frazer, an American expat who has been living in Beijing for three years, recently had her first trial with salt therapy at WowFresh, afterwards stating: “I’d never experienced a salt room before, and now I really want to keep going back. My skin has cleared and my lungs felt like I had just taken a two-week vacation in the mountains.”
That’s the premise at WowFresh: a vacation for your mind as well as your skin and your lungs, especially on days when the pollution just doesn’t seem to let up. While salt therapy’s benefits may be disputed in some circles and with research ongoing, we can’t imagine that it would hurt to escape the hustle and bustle of Beijing.
When purchased via Dazhong Dianping, treatments cost RMB 88 for 45 minutes, which includes a 30 minute shoulder massage, and RMB 98 for 60 minutes with a Dead Sea mud mask and a head massage. Packages are also available for long-term treatments.
WowFresh
Daily 10am-8pm (and by appointment). 319, Bldg 16, Huamao, 89 Jianguo Lu, Chaoyang District (5200 8038)
朝阳区建国路89号院16号楼319
This article first appeared in our magazine. To read the entire September/October issue online, please click here.
More stories by this author here.
Email: margauxschreurs@truerun.com
Instagram: s.xuagram
Photos courtesy of WowFresh
Well it's not the first salt room in Beijing actually but it's the only one open currently and I would love to try it!
There was a salt room in a Chinese gym near Club Football headquarters (gaobedian area I think) from 2010-2011 that closed down, I suppose. I took our youngest daughter there in the winters when she had chest colds and chest congestion, asthma etc and it truly helped and totally safe for little ones.
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