Tourists play at Harbin Ice Snow World in Heilongjiang province on August 13. (SHAO GUOLIANG/FOR CHINA DAILY)
With many regions in China experiencing scorching temperatures this summer, more and more travelers are seeking relaxation in some cities that boast cool weather.
According to Trip.com Group, China’s largest online travel agency, online searches for travel products to avoid the summer heat increased 150 percent in July compared to June.
This summer, the frequency of high-temperature days has increased due to global warming, affecting many areas where mercury concentrations were at or above 40 degrees Celsius, according to the China Meteorological Administration.
“City dwellers are interested in forest walks, grassland scenery and bamboo rafting. Many tourists do not want to stay in big cities with large crowds and are more likely to look for small towns or mountain villages with cooler weather to enjoy a quiet summer,” said Shen Jiani, a senior researcher at Trip.com Group.
Northeast China, especially Harbin in Heilongjiang Province, made a splash online last winter with its excellent winter tourism and food. Its famous ice sculptures and frozen pears attracted many tourists. Now the region is popular again as the average daily temperature is below 25°C.
The region has attracted a large number of tourists, with most visitors since July coming from Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Nanjing in Jiangsu province, as well as Hangzhou in Zhejiang province. Hotel bookings have increased by more than 60 percent compared to June, Trip.com found.
In addition, Guiyang in Guizhou Province, Hohhot in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Qinhuangdao in Hebei Province are among the most popular summer travel destinations.
This popularity has pushed revenues in China’s summer tourism market to 1.2 to 1.5 trillion yuan (US$167.8 billion), indicating strong demand and high growth potential in this segment, according to a report by the China Tourism Academy.
An assistant manager surnamed Xiao of a rural resort in the Qinling Mountains operated by Trip.com in Foping, Shaanxi province, said the resort has received a large number of telephone inquiries recently. Most tourists, he said, called to inquire about the temperatures there.
Foping is located deep in the mountainous region, and the average temperature is about 10 degrees lower than that of Xi’an, the provincial capital of Shaanxi. Frequent rainy days have made the weather even cooler recently, and many tourists from surrounding cities flock here to escape the summer heat.
Indoor ski resorts have also become a popular summer entertainment option, especially for consumers in southern China.
To meet the demand of ski enthusiasts in the south, it is no longer enough to simply visit the ski resorts in northern China in winter. A new trend has become for them to try out the large indoor ski resorts in the area in summer.
In July, bookings at ski resorts rose 15 percent from the previous month. Last winter, four of the top five cities in China with the highest bookings for ski-related products were in the south: Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Chengdu in Sichuan province, Trip.com reported.
Since the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, ice and snow sports have become very popular in southern China and the ski industry has seen continued growth.
According to a recent report by the China Sports Administration, the annual nationwide revenue related to various ice and snow sports amounts to over 150 billion yuan.
