After the seven-day Spring Festival holiday it is common to feel reluctant to return to the everyday routine of life and work. Chinese-style spas are offering a variety of ways to wash your blues away, promising an array of solutions to rid common symptoms such as tiredness, lack of appetite and concentration, muscle aches and anxiety.

"Post-holiday syndrome is mostly caused by the inner functional system being in a state of chaos, when the body's rhythm is disturbed from changing from holiday to work," explained Liu Yu, secretary-general of China Spa Association. "In this sense, Chinese-style spas, combining European and traditional Chinese medical philosophies, are an efficient op-tion to deal with the syndrome."

Finding popularity in China in the late 1990s, many Chinese-style spas focus on restoring balance and harmony to the mind and body. One inner-city spa in Beijing takes its inspiration from the traditional Chinese philosophy of qi. Qi is considered the universal life force that governs well-being and personal vitality. It is believed that chi must flow freely within the body to maintain good health and when blocked, illness can follow.

"This forms the basis of CHI's spa philosophy," explained Janet Zhang from Shangri-la hotel Beijing's CHI spa. "At CHI, massage, exercise, stretching, hydrotherapy and movement of the mind through relaxation and meditation combine to assist the body's natural renewal."

The spa's therapies include more than 35 options, all based on the "five-elements theory," in which metal, water, wood, fire and earth harmonize with positive yang and negative yin energy within the body. An assortment of therapies work to relax and restore vitality, while others use indigenous ingredients and techniques drawn from the ancient healing traditions of the Himalayan region, all proven to be efficient coping with post-holiday syndrome symptoms, according to Zhang.

The concept of general inner body harmony, jingluo (main and collateral channels inside the human body), has been adopted by spas and health centers across the country.

"During the holiday, it is common for women to neglect their skincare regimes when they are busy with outings and visiting friends and family and it is worsened by staying up late and heavy eating," explained Xiao Ying, manager of Sanyuechun Chinese Medicine Health & Beauty in Beijing.

According to Chinese traditional medicine, the face is the mirror of the five internal organs (heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys). Any unhealthy part of the body will be reflected on the relative part of the face. "For example, if there is something wrong with your stomach, due to over-eating, it is most likely that you will develop acne or pimples on your face," Xiao explained. "Many women tend to have facial problems after the holidays, which is actually a signal given out by their inner body."

Many Chinese spa treatments utilize such theories and are prescribed based on facial problems. A traditional Chinese medicine bath and jingluo massage can balance positive yang and negative yin energies and smooth channel connections between the face and internal organs, according to Xiao.

Traditional Chinese medicine baths should be individualized, based on diagnosis by traditional Chinese medicine experts, she added. Warm water quickens the process of medicine absorption by the skin and internal organs, therefore making a medicinal bath an efficient and direct method to cure post-holiday problems.

Tibetan medicine also offers a back-to-work remedy with an emphasis on herbal baths. As one of the few Tibetan-style spa facilities in Beijing, Padma Chumig's five amrita Tibetan herbal bath focuses on restoring and preserving inner health and is recommended for people unwilling to return to work, according to general manager of the spa, Wang Hong.

Wang explained that Tibetan medicinal baths involve more than a simple dip in medicinal water and include guests lying on a hot bed built with bricks that have been immersed in herbal medicine beforehand. Toxins can be eliminated through sweating, while the herbal medicine in the bricks is absorbed by the body that is opened by the heating power of the bed. Tibetan essential oils mainly made from saffron and white azalea are then applied through slow and gentle massage, to block pores opened during the bath so that the body will not be attacked by the cold outside and giving the medicine enough time to be absorbed.

"The bath originates from the traditional Tibetan medicine bath with a history of more than 1,300 years," Wang said, adding that herbal baths are an important part of Tibetan medicine and are widely applied to clinical practice in terms of adjusting, improving and curing internal diseases.