Discussion keeps the world turning.
This is Roundtable.
You're listening to Roundtable.
I'm Steve Hatherly today with Yishen and Fei Fei.
Coming up, imagine checking out of your life for one whole month.
No work commute, no city noise, just mountain air and temperatures that never even approach 30 degrees.
Sounds pretty good, right?
Well, that's exactly what thousands across China are doing right now,
trading humid streets for highland villages and northern retreats.
So what happens when escaping the heat stops being a luxury and starts being survival?
As summer temperatures climb across much of China, people, some people,
many people are relocating for weeks at a time,
swapping sweltering cities for mountain towns and highland retreats,
even renting spare rooms in some half-empty villages just for the season.
Others, they're trading one famous destination for several smaller, shorter trips closer to home.
From mountain retreats to cool villages that might not get visited otherwise, people are on the go.
Local governments have responded, businesses have responded as well.
There are wellness retreats and long-stay packages,
and new rail and flight routes being built for the heat escapers.
And it is a real trend, which is why we're talking about it here on the show today.