Bailian SPA Yangzonghai

Bailian SPA on Yangzong Lake is what a hot spring looks like when designed by a five-star hotelier: private villas with their own mineral pools, treatment rooms over the water, and a spa menu that runs from Chinese tuina to Ayurvedic ritual.

The lake itself - a blue volcanic crater lake an hour from Kunming - is worth the trip alone, and the resort wraps around its best shore. It is the address for honeymooners, anniversaries, and travelers who want their hot spring to come with butler service and a view that refuses to be photographed adequately.