August is the hottest month in Chongqing, a municipality located roughly 700 miles from the ocean. Last month the temperature peaked at about 106 degrees — some 15 degrees higher than the average temperature for the same day in previous years — which suggests why the city is known as one of China’s “three great furnaces.” The humidity, which often reaches 80 percent, helps explain its designation as “the fog capital.” For almost a decade, Chongqing’s economy has been one of the fastest growing among China’s major municipalities. The closest respite for local families is a 16-acre Caribbean- and Mayan-themed water park, built on Nashan Mountain. On a summer day, more than 13,000 day-trippers and vacationers from Chengdu to Guang’an might visit the attraction, most of which is underwater or within the range of hoses and sprinklers. Picnic tables are built into shallow pools for games of Chinese chess and mah-jongg; musical acts perform on the water stage. The most popular spot is a wave pool that produces eight different kinds of swells. Deng Xingkai, who is 32 and owns a hot-pot restaurant in Chongqing, describes the wave pool as like swimming in a real ocean — and the best chance for a family outing. “My child rarely gets a chance to go on a vacation with us,” he says. “We are too busy with the restaurant business. We don’t have weekends, and we have to work on public holidays too. But you have to make a living, right?” J.L.
8月是重慶最熱的月份,這個(gè)內(nèi)陸城市離大海約有700英里(約合1100公里)的距離。上月,該市氣溫最高達(dá)到大約106華氏度(約合41.1攝氏度),比此前一些年同一天的平均溫度高出了大約15華氏度。這解釋了這座城市為何被稱作中國“三大火爐”之一。常常高達(dá)80%的濕度,則幫助解釋了它被稱為“霧都”的原因。近十年來,重慶的經(jīng)濟(jì)一直屬于中國主要城市中增長最快的。距離當(dāng)?shù)孛癖娮罱拇笮托蓍e場所是一個(gè)占地16英畝(約合100畝)的加勒比和瑪雅主題水上樂園,位于南山。夏季,水上樂園每天可能要接待逾1.3萬名一日游游客和來自從成都到廣安的游客。樂園大部分地方都位于水下,或在水管和噴水裝置附近。淺水區(qū)設(shè)有野餐桌,供游客下象棋和打麻將用。水上舞臺上還有音樂表演。最受歡迎的地方是一個(gè)可以產(chǎn)生八種不同浪潮的沖浪池。32歲的鄧興凱(音)在重慶開了一家火鍋店。他說,沖浪池就像在真的大海里游泳一樣,是家庭出游的最佳選擇。“我家孩子很少有機(jī)會和我們一起度假,”他說。“餐廳生意太忙了,我們沒有周末,法定節(jié)假日也要工作。但總得謀生呀,對吧?”J·L。