NEW HOT SPRING FOUND IN BAOLAI, KAOHSIUNG|莫拉克風災後七年 寶來地區挖到新溫泉脈

Ever since a typhoon in 2009 devastated Kaohsiung's popular hot spring destination Baolai, business has been bad for local hot spring resorts. Recently, years of attempt to locate new hot spring sources have finally born fruit. A new underground outlet with just the right temperature and a stable flow rate has recently been discovered, bringing the hope of a tourism renaissance to local residents. Underground waters coming out with muds, yes, it's newly discovered hot spring. Since 2009, Typhoon Morakot devastated Baolai, local residents were not able to locate the vein of heated underground water. Nearly eight years passed, the contracted drilling company finally located the hot spring with safe temperature and stable flow rate. ==CHUNG HSIANG-KUEI, Baolai Tourism Association Chairman== The daily flow rate of hot spring is about 300 tons, according to what I know of. Therefore this is a big deal for Baolai. This news excited local residents, ever since Typhoon Morakot, Baolai's tourism has gone weaker, it only has 40% of tourists than it used to have. ==HOT SPRING RESORT OWNER== During the off season such as April, May and June in summer, only few tourists walking on the street. Our occupancy rate has been very low. For the past seven years, some resort owners strived for quality operations while some left Baolai quietly. ==CHUNG HSIANG-KUEI, Baolai Tourism Association Chairman== Some business owners have been thinking about retreat. One resort owner made his way out, and one hotel out. They were not able to continue their businesses here. Locating hot spring vein will be a brand new start for Baolai and its tourism. The drilling engineers must ascertain both water flow rate and quality before resort owners started to sell for business. TRANSLATED BY：ANTHONY LIN 夾帶泥沙的泉水，不斷從地表湧出，還冒著白煙，寶來從八八風災就一直找不回溫泉源頭，睽違將近八年，這是第一次鑽探到水溫穩定、水量也夠多的溫泉脈。 ==寶來觀光協會理事長 鍾享桂== 每日的湧泉量應該是有300噸左右 據我知道是有300噸左右 所以帶來一個寶來重大的消息 消息傳出後，令寶來當地相當振奮，因為八八風災後南橫中斷，沿線景點之一的寶來，溫泉源頭又消失，原本人氣正高的溫泉觀光，急速衰退，多年來，遊客量最多只有風災前的四成。 ==溫泉山莊業者== 如果像淡季 像夏天四.五.六月的話 真的就是街上門可羅雀 我們的住房率其實大家都在苦撐 七年多來，有的業者苦撐，努力維持住宿品質和當年打下的基礎，但也有業者經歷多年門可羅雀的光景，已經悄悄離開寶來。 ==寶來觀光協會理事長 鍾享桂== 有一些業者一直想退出了啦 包括以前有一個山莊 那個老闆已經退出了 包括 酒店現在也是退出了 已經把整個店 都沒有辦法經營下去了 寶來觀光產業要重振，地方上認為找到溫泉脈將是一個全新的開始，不過鑽探工程目前還要水量穩定確認，以及品質檢驗，才能正式讓業者接管使用。 記者 王介村 孟昭權 高雄報導