Recommended tourist attractions to avoid summer heat in Hunan
2024-07-25
Mountain tour
Mount Heng
With a forest coverage rate of 90%, Mount Heng is shrouded in clouds and mist for about seven months throughout the year. The average temperature at the foot of the mountain is 25.8 degrees Celsius, and the average temperature at the mountaintop is 21.6 degrees Celsius.
Even in the scorching summer, the temperature halfway up the mountain remains between 17.5 and 27 degrees Celsius, making it a famous summer resort worldwide.
Yunshan National Forest Park
Yunshan National Forest Park is cool and pleasant in summer, with an average temperature of around 25 degrees Celsius in mountainous areas. It is a typical mountainous summer resort in the province.
The scenic area has a sea of clouds, ancient trees, flowing springs, cascading waterfalls, secluded valleys, strange peaks, bid rocks, ancient temples, wooden pavilions, ancient paths, and historic sites. It enjoys a reputation of a famous attraction in South Chu.
Mufu Mountain National Forest Park
Mufu Mountain was formerly known as Tianyue. The main peak of Mufu Mountain is located in Pingjiang County, Yueyang City. The peaks stretch across Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces, with the highest peak reaching an elevation of 1,596 meters, making it the highest peak on the border of the three provinces.
Mufu Mountain is known for its majestic mountains, steep cliffs, secluded valleys, beautiful forests, peculiar rocks, and lucid water. The annual average temperature ranges from 8.6 degrees Celsius to 12.1 degrees Celsius, with a maximum summer temperature of 29 degrees Celsius. It is an ideal destination for leisure, summer escape, and recuperation.
Mangshan Mountain National Forest Park
Mangshan Mountain National Forest Park, with an average summer temperature of only 20 degrees Celsius, is the largest national forest park in Hunan Province.
There are still 6,000 hectares of virgin forests. Mangshan has countless views, including high mountains, strange peaks and deep forests.
Yangming Mountain National Forest Park
Yangming Mountain National Forest Park has a forest coverage rate of 98%, an average negative oxygen ion content of 38,000 cubic meters, and an average temperature of 22.6 degrees Celsius in summer.
It’s known as a natural oxygen bar and a cool isle in Hunan and Guangdong provinces. It’s a rare summer resort with luxuriant grass and trees. There are 32 streams, 84 pools and 18 waterfalls on the mountain.
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park
Zhangjiajie National Forest Park is located in the hinterland of Wuling Mountains and is the first national forest park in China. Deep mountains, clear water, peculiar peaks, secluded gorges and beautiful caves make it a great place to escape the heat in summer.
Strolling through the Golden Whip Creek Grand Canyon, with peculiar peaks on both sides, gurgling streams, gentle breezes, and picturesque scenery, it’s like walking into a real scene in “Wizard of Oz”.
This summer, it’s a good choice to go to Zhangjiajie National Forest Park and experience the coolness of 21 degrees Celsius.
Water tour
Dongjiang Lake Scenic Area
Dongjiang Lake, with a vast water area and changeable scenery, is known as a “fairyland on the earth”. In hot summer, the average temperature here is only about 25.4 degrees Celsius. The best time to visit the mist-covered Dongjiang Lake is between 5:30 and 8:00 and between 17:30 and 20:30 from July to September.
Tuolong Gorge Ecological Tourism Scenic Area
Tuolong Gorge Ecological Tourism Scenic Area is a national 3A rafting scenic area. The rafting route is 5 kilometers long in total and has a total drop of 299 meters, with the slide way stretching as long as 120 meters. It passes through 9 natural stone caves.
Along the way, tourists can enjoy the exciting rafting project, and appreciate the charm of natural ecology.
Maoyan River Rafting
Maoyan River Rafting is 20 kilometers long with a drop of 66 meters. With an average temperature of less than 23 degrees Celsius, it’s a good place to escape the summer heat.
Here, tourists can enjoy thrills and spills while rowing the jet and rubber boats down the river with cascading waterfalls, deep pools, peculiar rocks and deep forests on both sides. If lucky enough, you may even discover rare animals and plants.
Jindong Rafting
Jindong Drifting enjoys the reputation of the first drifting in Asia, with a total length of 12 kilometers and a drop of 108 meters. There are 18 thrilling shoals, 20 clear pools, and four kilometers of adventure rafting channels meeting the national four-level standard. It takes one hour to enjoy the rafting project.
Mengdong River Rafting
The whole drifting journey of Mengdong River is about 17 kilometers long. It takes 2.5 hours to experience this rafting.
Grassland tour
Yangtian Lake Grassland
Yangtian Lake Grassland is located in Beihu District of Chenzhou City, with an average altitude of 1,314 meters and a total area of 40 square kilometers. It enjoys a reputation of the most beautiful alpine grassland in South China.
With an average temperature of 20 degrees Celsius in summer and fresh air, it’s a good place for summer holidays. The green grass period, which is the longest in China, lasts nine months.
Nanshan Grassland
Nanshan Grassland is located in Chengbu Miao Autonomous County, Shaoyang City, with an average altitude of 1,760 meters and an average annual temperature of 11 degrees Celsius. The average temperature in July is 19 degrees Celsius, and the highest temperature in summer and autumn is 28 degrees Celsius. It is an excellent summer resort in Hunan, attracting many tourists.
The boundless grassland is rolling in the mountains, like a piece of green jade, embedded in the mountains of Hunan and Guangxi.
Nantan National Grassland Natural Park
Nantan National Grassland Natural Park is located in the northeast of Sangzhi County, Zhangjiajie City, with an annual average temperature of 16.4 degrees Celsius and relative humidity of 79%.
It has a total area of 180,000 mu (12,000 hectares) and an average elevation of 1,200 meters. Nantan Grassland has vast natural grasslands and abundant water resources, with more than 40 gullies and more than 200 natural springs.
In the center of the grassland, there is Nantan Reservoir, with diverse species and landscapes.
Yanzi Mountain Grassland
Yanzi Mountain Grassland is located in Yuankou Yao Township, Jiangyong County, Yongzhou City, with an area of about 10 square kilometers. The mountain looks like a flying swallow.
The original grassland stretches for 10 kilometers, with the highest altitude of 1,562 meters. It’s shrouded by mist and clouds all year round, with abundant rainfall. The annual average temperature ranges from 14 degrees Celsius to 16 degrees Celsius, and the highest temperature in summer is between 18 and 20 degrees Celsius.
Golden Ranch
Golden Ranch is located in Huangjin Yao Township, Xinning County, Shaoyang City, covering an area of 350,000 mu (about 23,333 hectares), with an average altitude of 1,200 meters and an average daily temperature of about 24 degrees Celsius.
It has vast original ecological alpine meadows, shrubs and bamboo forests, with an average vegetation coverage rate of more than 85% and a high content of negative oxygen ions in the air.
The vast golden pastures and the wind farms standing in the distance form a picturesque scenery line, making people enchanted.
Because of its unique geographical location and climate environment, it attracts many tourists for sightseeing every year.
Bamian Mountain Scenic Area
Bamian Mountain Scenic Area in Xiangxi Prefecture is surrounded by steep cliffs, with a flat and open terrain. It’s known as the No.1 table mountain in Asia and an aerial grassland.
It boasts cool weather in summer with an average temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius. Here, tourists can enjoy many beautiful scenes, including sunrise, a sea of clouds, sunset and alpine meadows.
Bamboo sea tour
Taohuajiang Bamboo Sea
The Taohuajiang Bamboo Sea Scenic Area has over 50,000 mu (about 3,333 hectares) of bamboo and a high concentration of negative oxygen ions, making it one of the top ten bamboo seas in China.
Relying on the profound culture and good ecological environment of Taojiang, the scenic area has built a bamboo cultural museum, a bamboo cultural exhibition park, the Tianwen Academy and others.
In 2023, the scenic area was rated as a national natural oxygen bar by the China Meteorological Administration.
Cai Lun Bamboo Sea
Cai Lun Bamboo Sea is located in Leiyang City, Hengyang City, with bamboo forest covering over 200 large and small mountains. It’s known as “a big bamboo sea” in Asia, with a bamboo forest area of 160,000 mu (about 10,667 hectares).
In addition, the scenic area also has Dahetan ancient street, a natural fountain, the world famous Shangbao crystal mine producing fluorite crystals, bamboo sea and stone forests of unique shapes and natural attractions.
Yunfeng Bamboo Sea Scenic Area
Yunfeng Bamboo Sea is located at the foot of Xuefeng Mountain, Huaihua City. It’s the origin of “The Wavy Water” in Qu Yuan’s poems and the only way to the tea-horse ancient road.
Here, tourists can visit Yunfeng Temple and century-old villages, and embrace a thousand-year-old marriage tree.
Waterfall tour
Zhouluo Grand Canyon
The Zhouluo Grand Canyon boasts breathtaking scenery. There are numerous waterfalls of different sizes in the scenic area, among which the Mandarin Duck Waterfall and the Antenna Waterfall are the most stunning.
Shennong Valley National Forest Park
Shennong Valley has an average annual temperature of 14.4 degrees Celsius and an average temperature of 23.8 degrees Celsius in the hottest month, making it a great place to escape the summer heat.
Shennong Waterfall is the most spectacular waterfall among the many waterfalls in Shennong Valley, with a drop of 235.2 meters. It is the waterfall with the largest drop in Hunan Province.
Huping Mountain Grand Canyon
The Huping Mountain Grand Canyon Scenic Area has a quiet and pleasant ecological environment. Several rivers in the canyon fall from the source, with a drop of nearly one kilometer, forming a beautiful dynamic water feature.
There are nearly 100 large and small waterfalls in the scenic area, among which the Huping Waterfall is one of the new eight scenes of Hunan.
Furong Town Waterfall
Furong Town Waterfall is located in Furong Town, near the core of the Youshui River. It is more than 20 meters wide, and about 30 meters high. Some people say Furong Town is a millennium-old town hanging on the waterfall. Visitors can pass through the waterfall into Tujia stilted buildings, which is very mysterious.
Cave tour
Baishui Cave Scenic Area
Baishui Cave boasts beautiful scenery, strange rocks and clear water. The natural landscapes in the scenic area include high gorges, flat lakes, flowing springs, flying waterfalls”, and underground caves.
Among them, the three major landscapes of “Nantian divine pillar”, “the first curtain in the world” and “the underwater world” in Baishui Cave have been acclaimed by CCTV as “wonders of the world”.
Meishan Dragon Palace
Meishan Dragon Palace is located by the Zishui River, Xinhua County, Loudi City. It’s a large karst cave integrating canyons, peaks, cliffs, streams, funnels, underground rivers and other karst geological landforms, with nine layers of caves. It is proven to be over 2,876 meters long. Currently, a 1,896-meter-long route is opened to the tourists, with a unique underground river of 466 meters.
Huanglong Cave
Huanglong Cave is located in the core scenic area of Wulingyuan in Zhangjiajie, with wide dragon palace halls, numerous stalagmites and stalactites, magnificent wonders, and hidden rivers.
The constant temperature of 16 degrees Celsius in the cave makes it a perfect place to avoid summer heat.
In the cave, tourists can visit many stone scenes of different shapes, take a boat on the river, and take photos with underground rivers, waterfalls and stalactites as the background.
