Chinese cities have launched various colorful tourism programs for both locals and tourists to enjoy the summer vacation in the ongoing peak travel season.
In Huai'an City of east China's Jiangsu Province, foodies can enjoy a feast of crayfish with dozens of flavors, with a dazzling light show lighting up the summer sky.
"We are drinking beer and eating crayfish together. You can feel the buzz of summer in the city. It feels good, very good," said Chen Yulong, a tourist.
In Xichang City of southwest China's Sichuan, the Torch Festival of the Yi ethnic minority group attracted thousands of tourists.
Also known as the Oriental Carnival, the event is the Yi ethnic minority group's most important traditional festival, which falls around the 24th day of the sixth lunar month. It is also a shared traditional festival of the ethnic minorities of the Yi, Naxi and Bai in southwest China.
With cultural tourism gaining traction, the Museum of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture in southwest China's Yunnan Province has attracted numerous visitors and teenagers to enjoy the glamor and uniqueness of local folklores as well as historical inheritance and cultural deposit of the Bai ethnic minority group.
The museum has received growing streams of visitors during the summer vocation so far, with viewers accumulating to around 60,000 from July 1 to Aug 9, setting record highs, showing a year-on-year increase of 107.69 percent.
Mount Hengshan in central China's Hunan Province, one of the Five Sacred Mountains in China, has received throngs of tourists from near and far during the summer vacation.
The bus route connecting the tourism service center to the entrance of the Nantianmen (the Southern Heavenly Gate), a major scenic spot, is 18 kilometers long but with a vertical climb of over 1,000 meters. To ensure safety, bus drivers would conduct inspections on the shuttle buses every morning. Before each departure, the driver will remind tourists to sit still and fasten their seat belts.
"Our family of three come from Qingdao (a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province), the driver was very caring. As the bus moves, the scenery outside the window keeps changing, just like walking into a beautiful scroll painting," said a tourist named Yang Yang.
Long waiting time outdoors can be unbearable in the sweltering heat. To better help the tourists, staff members in a theme park in Jinan, east China’s Shandong Province set up sunshades, electric fans, seats and cushions in the waiting area of recreational facilities.
"The sunshades in our entire park can cover an area of about 15,000 square meters. We also have about 500 parasols, 5,000 seats in the waiting area as well as fans and air conditioners, to create a better environment for the tourists," said Wu Dandan, director of tourist department of the park.