Cool destinations are hot favorites as travelers escape the heat

HOHHOT — As passengers disembarked from their two-hour flight from Beijing to Manzhouli, Inner Mongolia autonomous region, they were greeted by a refreshing breeze from the Hulunbuir Grassland that made many give a loud wow. The city in northeastern Inner Mongolia, which borders Russia, is about 10 degrees Celsius cooler than the capital.

"It feels so comfortable here," says a woman surnamed Liu, breathing in Manzhouli's fresh, cool evening air as she started a weeklong trip with her family in Inner Mongolia, a region known for its vast grasslands and forests.

Liu is part of a growing wave of "heat-escaping tourists" — urban dwellers seeking temporary relief from the hot climate in the country's sweltering cities.