Have you noticed how hot it has been in China this summer? Even cities in the three most extreme northeastern provinces of China have recorded temperatures of 100 degrees Fahrenheit or more in the recent weeks! In one of these cities, I have personally been there in December when it was 18 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit), so you can see that a climate like that doesn’t get to 100 degrees or higher very often!
There are lots of precautions that should be made when dealing with extreme temperatures like these, and there are some for travelers as well. Would you like to review a couple of them?
First and foremost, stay hydrated! Bottles of water are inexpensive in China and easy to find in cities, so please stay hydrated and wear loose-fitting light-colored clothes. Another one is to know some of the aspects of when and where to go. I can show you an example of a mistake I made once. Would you like to see it?
This is the Great Wall of China at the Badaling location, which is the closest to Beijing so it is full of tourists. Also, it is the most commercialized of the locations near Beijing, so the crowds just getting there are quite large. This photo was taken in the summer, so not only was that the height of the tourist season, but it was also hot! As you can see from the photo, the air movement is somewhat restricted by the upper section of the wall. On this day I was convinced the stones in the Great Wall were absorbing the heat from the sun, and reflecting it back on the tourists!
If your travel takes place in the summer months, I would encourage you to think about getting to an outdoor tourist site early in the morning. This way it will be cooler, and you should be ahead of the crowds. On this trip to the Great Wall, combining the heat with the crowds did not make for the best experience, and that is what I want everyone to have, the best possible experience. Hopefully you can learn from my mistake!