Keeping Your Cool

Summer in China can be a time of stiflingly humid days, and thoughts of escaping the heat are never far from the minds of most.

Sensing an opportunity, Guizhou, an inland province in the southwest of China, has come up with a very cool idea.

Taking advantage of the comfortable weather the area enjoys, the provincial capital of Guiyang announced its "Escape From Summer Heat" initiative (from May to October this year) and it's already proving popular as holiday makers, eager to chill out, rush to the city.

At a press conference in Beijing on June 12, Ji Hong, Vice Mayor of Guiyang, said the tourist season will last five months, and the city will lay on various activities such as tasting local fine teas, exploring the valleys and romantic tours catered to lovers during the Qixi Festival, China's Valentine's Day, which falls on August 7 this year.

But besides these colorful programs, the big drawing card of Guiyang and the whole province is the cool weather.

It's the first thing visitors notice on arrival, when they step off the plane and are welcomed by cool fresh breezes.

According to Ji, the average temperature of Guiyang in the summer is around 23 degrees centigrade, perfect for a summer resort and deserving the title "the summer capital" given by the Chinese Meteorological Society in 2007.

Green is cool

Green is the color that dominates Guiyang, a plateau city. It is home to 183,000 hectares of woodland, with a forest coverage of 31.7 percent. A belt of trees, up to 7 km wide and 70 km long, was planted around the city, providing a green ecological shelter for residents. A larger forest belt surrounding the city is now under construction.

Besides this, there is also a forest park located in the city center, which is the largest city forest park in China. Scientists said that in many areas in these forests, the quantity of the negative ions of oxygen reaches 50,000 per cubic cm, tens of times that of the area outside city. The city is a natural oxygen bar, free from pollution and providing visitors and residents with a refreshing break from the stresses of modern life.

Because the sunshine in Guiyang is not strong, the golf courses there attract golf lovers from all over the country in the summer.

And it's not only cool in the city. Around 100 km west of Guiyang is the famous Huangguoshu Waterfall, the largest in Asia. The average temperature there in July is around 23 degrees centigrade. Sitting in caves in the mountainside directly behind the thunderous curtain of water is a magical experience, and if you want to prolong your trip, try spending the night in one of the stone houses as a guest of local villagers of the Buyi ethnic group.

The entire Guizhou Province is like a big natural air conditioner hiding behind the mountains. The low latitude and moderate altitude give rise to the unique climate, producing an annual average temperature of around 15.6 degrees centigrade.

It is the province with the largest mountainous areas in China. Among the mountains, rivers and lakes scattered about in abundance, making the landscape resemble a Chinese watercolor painting.

The karst topography is one of the particular features of note. In Guizhou, the karstland accounts for 73 percent of the province's total area. The rich karst resources make Guizhou "a karst museum of the world." Among all the karst features, the cone-shaped karst is a world treasure.

Over millions of years these karst formations have been eroded by water to produce more than 3,600 water-eroded caves. The largest of these caves is the Zhijin Cave, which covers an area of 740,000 square meters, making it the largest of its kind in the world. Another cave, Shanghe Cave, is 110 km long and is believed to be the longest such cave in the world.
Besides appreciating various shapes and scenes of these caves, visitors
can try drifting through the mountains, exploring caves or doing other adventures in Guizhou.

Ethnic minorities thrive

Girls of the Miao ethnic group wear their traditional costumes adorned with extravagant silver jewelry. (Image: Beijing Review)Guizhou is also one of the provinces in China that is home to many ethnic minorities. There are 49 nationalities in the province whose population makes up 37.8 percent of the total population of the province.

Because of the barriers of mountains, many villagers have little connection with the outer world, which allows their traditional way of life to remain undisturbed as it was even 500 years ago.

The traditional ethnic culture has been well preserved, including beliefs, conventions, festivals, ceremonies, music, songs and dances, languages, characters, architecture and ancient handcraft skills passed down thousands of years.

A trip to a minority village can present a whole new world and a side of China seen by few. Many of these people are born entertainers who in some cases even communicate by singing. Visitors can wear the clothes of minority nationalities and perform together with the locals, a new experience well away from the electronic technology-dominated entertainment in the modern world.

And when the need for refreshment arises, Maotai spirit, the national wine of China, is a good choice. Because of the good quality of the water in Guizhou, it is an ideal location to produce many famous brands of wines, drunk with local snacks and traditional cuisine.

So with all the plus factors going for Guizhou, why is it not well-known as a southwest travel destination? It is partly because of the landform of the province. It is undeveloped, meaning the transportation infrastructure limits the numbers of visitors. There is also a lack of promotion and awareness about the features of the area that are even unknown to many locals.

But with the opening-up steps and economic development beginning in the province, the beautiful scenery and supreme air quality in Guizhou is catching the attention of travelers. Nothing this good can remain a secret for too long.