Beat the heat in Ningbo, a cool place after all

Ningbo can reach 35 C at the height of summer. China Daily discovers some chill ways to enjoy it, even during its peak heat.

Theme parks

China Hin City transports people back to China's Republican period.

"Dingdongs" announce the arrivals of Shanghai's old, green trams.

Women wearing qipao depart. A man wearing a top hat, apparently grappling with the collision of Western and Chinese cultures, reads Shun Pao, a popular newspaper during that time.

The tram stops next at a place called Phantom Lover.

Fake thunder rattles fake windows.

A hanging color poster fades into black and white. Faces twist. A black cat disappears from a woman's arms.

The burst of air that hits people's ankles makes audiences "feel" the feline.

Intrigue manifests, real or otherwise.

A shooting serves as the experience's central plot.

It's a multimedia interpretation of life then versus life now, replete with dimensions that claim to extend beyond the past until today. And they do, to some extent.

The park covers 67 hectares in the city's Xiangshan Peninsula.

In Ningbo, bamboo grows all over the mountains. The "super grass" is a source of local crafts, including weaving and carving.

Visitors buy souvenirs made of the "supreme material" and can learn how to weave drink coasters in half an hour.

Local craftspeople carve the bamboo roots into pots and incense holders. An apprentice who started to learn the craft when he was 16 said he was concerned that nobody will continue the art. Most practitioners are elderly people.