With temperatures nearing 40 degrees Celsius outside, Chicago native Michael Shedd visited a hotpot restaurant located inside a former air-raid shelter in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality.
In front of him was a bubbling, intensely spicy broth, but the heat and humidity did not seem to bother him.
“I feel it’s cool as I get inside, just like there are air conditioners, but there are not. This is amazing,” Shedd said.
Thousands of air-raid shelters were carved into Chongqing’s mountainous terrain in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Once used as refuges for civilians during China’s War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, many have since been converted into hotpot restaurants, teahouses and venues for Sichuan Opera performances.
The shelters offer visitors a naturally cool environment while preserving an important part of the city’s history.
“The temperature inside the shelters remains around 25 degrees Celsius all year round,” said Wang Jing, marketing director of the restaurant. During summer weekends, the restaurant serves more than 300 tables a day, with about one in six diners coming from overseas.
“I feel like eating in history. The food is also good. You are never gonna find something like this anywhere in the world,” Shedd said, describing the restaurant as “legendary.”
As a severe heatwave sweeps across parts of the world this summer, such unusual destinations have helped make “China Cool” a popular term on overseas social media, following the earlier trend of “China Travel.”
By late July, bookings for inbound summer trips to China had increased by more than 20 percent from a year earlier.
Data from Trip.com showed that European countries accounted for 30 percent of the top 20 source markets for inbound tourism to China this summer. Orders from Europe surged 275 percent year on year, while ticket sales increased by more than 2,000 percent.
Natural Retreats
China’s vast territory and diverse climate provide numerous natural destinations for visitors seeking relief from the summer heat, ranging from high-altitude plateaus and forested mountains to coastal areas.
Huangshizhai, a scenic area in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park in central China’s Hunan Province, stands more than 1,200 meters above sea level. Its dense forests and mountain breezes provide a naturally cool environment.
Data from the past five years show that average summer temperatures at major tourist sites in the park ranged between 16 and 25 degrees Celsius from June to August.
“For me, it’s been a wonderful trip. I’m here with my family, surrounded by nature and spending time with Chinese friends. It feels great,” said French tourist Isabelle Sala Jaboule while walking along a trail in Huangshizhai.
“It’s very hot in France right now, but here we can breathe fresh air and feel so much cooler,” she said.
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park received more than 100,000 international tourists in July, up 46.78 percent year on year, with visitors from 148 countries and regions, according to local authorities.
A similar increase has been recorded in northeast China. At the Changbai Mountain Scenic Area in Jilin Province, located on the “golden summer escape” belt around 42 degrees north latitude, daily visitor numbers have exceeded 30,000 since the summer peak began in July.
The number of overseas tourists has risen 38 percent compared with the same period last year.
“This summer, we’ve seen notable growth in tour groups from Europe, the United States and the Republic of Korea,” a staff member at the scenic area said.
“Overseas visitors have shown a strong preference for nature-based activities such as forest hiking and splashing in mountain streams, with the area’s consistently cool temperatures the key draw,” the staff member said.
“Yesterday we visited the west slope of Changbai Mountain, and today we came to the north slope. We’ve been greeted by waves of cool mountain air. I just want to etch all the scenery before my eyes deep into memory,” said Choi Suk-rye, a visitor from the Republic of Korea.
“This is my first time in China, and I hope I can come back often,” said another South Korean traveler, Ahn Sun-mi.
Urban Chill
China’s cooling infrastructure is also becoming part of the summer travel experience.
By 2025, China had 150.6 air conditioners for every 100 households, or more than 1.5 per household, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Over the years, cooling facilities have expanded beyond homes into public spaces, including shopping malls, neighborhood cooling stations, underground shelters and transport hubs.
At Huaqiangbei, a large electronics market in Shenzhen, French visitor Jocelyne spent more than an hour exploring a shopping mall.
“There’s air conditioning everywhere in China. It’s very comfortable,” she said, pointing to a portable fan she had found. “I’d like to get a few to take back for my friends.”
“For European visitors from places where air conditioning is not yet ubiquitous, the sheer availability of cool, air-conditioned spaces almost everywhere in China can be quite a revelation,” said Yang Yong, who works for an international travel agency.
At The Ring shopping mall in Chongqing, visitors encounter a lush indoor rainforest rather than rows of conventional stores. Misting systems and specially designed lighting help maintain the temperature at around 21 degrees Celsius.
“The scenery in the mall has become quite popular on overseas social media, so I came here to see it for myself,” said Avidar, a visitor from Jordan.
“It’s not only a cool place to escape the summer heat, but also a feast for the eyes,” he said.
In Chongqing’s historic Mountain City Alley district, a 400-meter pedestrian walkway has also been turned into a “cooling corridor.” Misting systems and shaded areas lower the perceived temperature by 3 to 5 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, 23 subway stations in Shenyang, capital of northeast China’s Liaoning Province, have established cooling areas with benches since June 21. The facilities are open to everyone without requiring a ticket or transit card and will remain available until the end of September.
Deeper Stays
China’s expanding visa-free transit arrangements and improved travel facilitation have contributed to a noticeable change in inbound tourism this summer, with visitors staying longer and exploring beyond traditional tourist routes.
For many international travelers, “China Cool” means more than escaping high temperatures. It represents a different kind of travel experience combining cultural discovery with modern innovation.
Visitors are practicing traditional exercises such as Baduanjin, drinking tea, exploring intangible cultural heritage, traveling on high-speed trains, making mobile payments and visiting technology hubs.
In southwest China’s Yunnan Province, a popular destination for international tourists, travelers staying four to seven days accounted for 35 percent of visitors, while 23 percent stayed for more than a week, according to a Trip.com official.
Juan Antonio of Spain is among them. During his eighth trip to China this summer, he traveled to Yunnan after reading several books about the province before his arrival.
In Kunming, the provincial capital, he visited Yuantong Temple, a Buddhist site dating back 1,200 years.
“Here, an ancient temple gazes calmly across at a high-rise a hundred meters away. That’s the China I came to understand,” Antonio said.
His itinerary includes traveling from northwest Yunnan to the south, with stops in Dali to experience ethnic tie-dye, Lijiang to see traditional Naxi homes, Shangri-La to watch the sunrise over snow-capped mountains and Yuanyang to admire its famous rice terraces.
For Dutch visitor Bilal Badri, a trip to Chongqing was inspired by the video game “Cyberpunk 2077.”
At an observation deck atop a skyscraper, he stepped out over the edge in a safety harness and posed against the city’s illuminated nightscape for what he described as a “once-in-a-lifetime shot.”
“The whole city looked very cyberpunk,” he said, adding that Chongqing’s distinctive experiences offer visitors opportunities to explore the city beyond conventional sightseeing.
Similar experiences are being reported across China as the summer travel surge reflects the country’s continued growth in inbound tourism.
Data from the National Immigration Administration showed that China recorded 22.91 million inbound visits by foreign nationals in the first half of this year, up 20.4 percent year on year. Of those visitors, 77.7 percent benefited from visa-free entry arrangements.
“A China that pursues peaceful development, buzzes with innovation, and pulses with cultural richness is winning ever-greater trust and recognition around the world,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said at a regular news briefing in late July.
“We welcome more international friends to come and feel the warmth and vitality of a Chinese summer for themselves,” he said.