From June to August, a must-visit for the whole family to escape the heat, five hidden cool spots!

1️⃣ Shangri-La: 🚌 About transportation: We drove to Shangri-La, and the road conditions were great! It takes just over two hours to drive from Lijiang. ✅ Day 1 itinerary Stroll through Dukezong Ancient Town ➡️ Eat special Tibetan cuisine ➡️ Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience Center ➡️ Napa Lake ✅ Day 2 itinerary: Tibetan costume makeup in the ancient town ➡️ Songzanlin Monastery ➡️ Napa Lake ➡️ Large prayer flags ➡️ Guishan Park prayer wheel ➡️ Dancing at the Four-Square Plaza in the ancient town ▫️ 1️⃣ Dukezong Ancient Town: Arrive at the guesthouse at noon to drop off luggage, then spend the afternoon exploring Dukezong Ancient Town. The ancient town has an Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience Center where volunteers tell the history of the town, and you can also try the heritage project of painting Thangka. The whole process is really meaningful. 2️⃣ Tibetan costume makeup: There are many Tibetan costume shops in the ancient town. You can compare several on site. Prices generally range from 68 to 200 RMB. 3️⃣ Songzanlin Monastery: There is a Shangri-La wall to the left of the ticket office, be sure to take photos here, it’s really beautiful. The ticket costs 55 RMB. You can drive directly to the entrance of the scenic area. 4️⃣ Napa Lake: Driving around the lake takes about 1 hour. Set your navigation to the halfway point at Fei Coffee, which is the midpoint of the lake! Do not navigate directly to Napa Lake❗️ 5️⃣ Large prayer flags: We didn’t have to pay an entrance fee! The wind blowing the prayer flags swaying our lives is truly healing, and the photos come out great📸 6️⃣ Prayer wheels: Wearing Tibetan costumes here for photos looks great. After taking photos, remember to turn the prayer wheel clockwise three times! 7️⃣ Four-Square Plaza: In the evening, go to the Four-Square Plaza in the ancient town to dance with the Tibetan people and experience Tibetan ethnic customs. At this moment, you truly experience national unity, a free and passionate life! 2️⃣ Chengde 🚗 About transportation: Left Beijing before 5 a.m., arrived around 8 a.m. - In the city: shared electric scooters - Return: high-speed train. After visiting a scenic spot with parents, we continued driving to other places, then the two of us took the high-speed train back to Beijing. "First time getting a great deal on the high-speed train, second-class seat at 40% off, 40 RMB, 59 minutes." 🍲 Food recommendations: 1️⃣ Lao San Lamb Soup: Navigate to the Summer Resort store. Lamb offal soup 20 RMB, lamb soup 40 RMB, soup refills available, baked flatbread 2 RMB, fried flatbread 3 RMB each, huge portions, spicy shredded potatoes, almond drink 7 RMB, delicious! Lots of ingredients, the flatbread is worth packing! 2️⃣ Xing Hao Yu Jian Ni: Best almond tea, 10 RMB (almond tea is not tea leaves), almond tofu 8 RMB, also good! Almond cookies are not very special (5 RMB). Bought a pack of dried apricots for 12 RMB, chewy and tasty, love it. "Few additives in the ingredient list." 3️⃣ Yang’s Shanghai-style fried skewers: Tasty but just ordinary fried skewers. If you like fried snacks, go try; if not, no need. 4️⃣ Lao Jie Donkey Meat Fire Bake: Very delicious, found this by reading reviews! 8.5 RMB per fire bake, meat overflowing, tofu soup 3 RMB, very fresh and tasty. Chengde is hot in the afternoon, but we all drank it! Nearby, a guy went straight to the owner to buy a big piece of donkey meat and stewed jelly, saying he would continue eating with the flatbread. 5️⃣ Halal Huihui: By this time, we were full, but following the "since we’re here" principle, we ordered stir-fried chicken with cabbage (16 RMB) and three-shredded stir-fried beans (20 RMB), with homemade flatbread as staple food. Stir-fried chicken with cabbage is basically vinegar-fried cabbage with chicken, very oily. Although the taste was okay, we mostly ate it after rinsing. The three-shredded stir-fried beans are highly recommended, really delicious! Sour and sweet, appetizing and refreshing! A must-eat! 6️⃣ Youyuan Xingfu: Next to the Summer Resort, bought a hawthorn ice cream, then checked in next to a big milk tea and left (taste was average). 3️⃣ Changbai Mountain 🚕 About transportation: Changbai Mountain North Slope Tourist Center — Tianchi (Heaven Lake) — Changbai Waterfall — Small Tianchi — Green Deep Pool — Valley Forest — Mammoth Museum 1️⃣ Take a bus (50 minutes) from the scenic area entrance to the transfer center, then transfer to a minibus (20 minutes) to the main peak of Tianchi. 2️⃣ After Tianchi, take a minibus (20 minutes) back to the transfer center, then transfer to a bus (10 minutes) to Changbai Waterfall. 3️⃣ After Changbai Waterfall, take a bus (15 minutes) toward Green Deep Pool/Small Tianchi. If pressed for time, you can stay on the bus and get off directly at Green Deep Pool. The scenery at Small Tianchi is said to be average. 4️⃣ After Green Deep Pool, take a bus (15 minutes) to Valley Forest. After Valley Forest, you can take the transfer bus directly to the Mammoth Museum (you must transfer here when going down). Finally, take the bus back to the tourist center to end the trip~ 4️⃣ Enshi 🚙 About transportation: ✈️ Flights: Enshi Xujiaping Airport has direct flights to major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou. 🚅 Train: Enshi Railway Station has direct trains to Wuhan, Yichang, and other places. Self-driving: If you choose to drive, you can take routes like the Shanghai-Chongqing Expressway or Shanghai-Chengdu Expressway to Enshi. - 4-day itinerary recommendation 1⃣ Day 1: Gather in Enshi 2⃣ Day 2: Enshi - Pingshan Canyon - Night tour of Xuan’en 3⃣ Day 3: Xuan’en - Shiziguan Water Floating Bridge - Tujia Daughter City - Enshi 4⃣ Day 4: Enshi - Enshi Grand Canyon Qixingzhai - Yunlong Earth Crack - Enshi - 📍 Pingshan Canyon Rated by National Geographic as China’s most beautiful fairyland, known as "China’s Semporna" because of a viral photo of a small wooden boat floating on water. 📍 Enshi Grand Canyon This is a museum of karst landforms and the Colorado of the East. Above are cliffside plank roads and a billion-year-old incense stick, below is the earth’s most beautiful scar, Yunlong Earth Crack. 5️⃣📍 Tusi City The largest and most complete ancient Tujia ethnic architectural complex in China. 📍 Earth Heart Valley A hidden travel gem in Enshi for mountain and water adventures, not only featuring the viral cliff glass house but also the romantic Earth Heart from 30 degrees north latitude waiting for you to encounter. - Many scenic spots in Enshi are scattered and far from the city center, and transportation is not very convenient. It is recommended to join a small tour group. 5️⃣ Liupanshui 📍 About transportation: 🎫: 30 RMB/person, but many free admission policies apply~ ⏰: The scenic area is large, requiring about 4-5 hours to explore. If the weather is good, it’s recommended to descend later; the sunset is really beautiful! - 📸 Photo spots 1️⃣ Mountain top 🍀 Here are hills full of windmills, grasslands, cattle, sheep, and horses—you can’t tell if you’re in Inner Mongolia or Guizhou. 🌲 There are small wooden houses and wooden plank paths leading directly to the viewing platform. 🏠 Photos taken anywhere look great, and there is a pink little house. 🛫 The colors match the blue sky and cartoon clouds behind perfectly, like stepping into a comic! - 2️⃣ Scenic Area Gate 2 🌏 The nearby mountains are full of fir trees 🌲, very pristine! Just like in Yili, Xinjiang. 🧫 There is also a small creek flowing gently. For a moment, I really couldn’t tell if I was in Xinjiang or Guizhou. ✨ Truly magnificent! - 3️⃣ At the Mountain Wild Camping Base 💥 The first spot upon entering the scenic area, the grass here is shining green. 💦 Swaying in the wind, super healing! There is also a viewing platform to see the mountain scenery!