Changgwang-won Health Complex, Pyongyang

Constructed in 1981 in the North Korean socialist modernist style the Changgwang-won Health Complex is one of Pyongyang's most distinctive buildings. A self-described "big, monumental creation built on the Potong River", the Changgwang-won Health Complex is open to the general public as well as foreigners.

The Changgwang-won Health Complex is a lavish building facing Chollima Street on the edge of Potong River Park, upon the bank of the Potong river. The building houses many and varied public and private baths, hairdressing salons, soft-drink stands and other amenities aimed at promoting the health and cultural inculcation of Pyongyang’s working people. Inside there are several swimming pools including Olympic-sized pool with its over 2000-seat viewing stands.

Tourists are welcome here too, and the Complex's amenities are a healthful and enjoyable repose. Here the tourist can enjoy hot baths, swimming, Korean-style massage or visit the barber or beauty salon, where one can select from a display of ideologically acceptable haircuts or partake in a set and blow-dry befitting the spirit of the revolution. The barbershop is clean and surprisingly modern, and staffed by young ladies in their twenties.

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