Nestled high in the northern foothills of the Greater Khingan Range, on the China-Russia border, Mohe’s temperate summer climate has long made it a popular destination for tourists looking to escape the heat and humidity further south.

Yet, after a series of heatwaves sent temperatures soaring as high as 37 degrees Celsius, the city’s image as a cool getaway has come under threat, with guesthouse owners now even debating whether to install air conditioners.

Stories abound of families and solo travelers arriving in the northeastern Heilongjiang province to visit China’s northernmost city this year, only to discover “unbearably hot” and “highly unpredictable” weather conditions.

Temperatures of over 30 degrees Celsius were recorded on 10 days between mid-June and late July, well above the typical average of 24 to 26 degrees Celsius in summer. According to the Mohe Meteorological Bureau, the area around Beiji Village — literally “North Pole Village” — experienced a high of 36.1 degrees Celsius on June 27 when a warm ridge from Siberia’s Lake Baikal shifted eastward and continental tropical air masses swept through the Greater Khingan mountains.

“The weather changed every few miles, with moments of blazing sun followed by sunny showers, then clear skies, and then sudden downpours,” says Su Chang, who took her family on vacation to Mohe on July 17. Their hotel, although modern, had no air conditioning or electric fans to help alleviate the “stuffy, humid” daytime conditions. Guests could only request ice from reception to cool down.

In July, another tourist posted on social media that they had suffered heatstroke during a road trip in the region. On Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, videos about the summer heat in Mohe have attracted more than 10,000 likes and comments in the past two months.

It costs to be cool

Beiji Village, at the northern tip of Mohe, has roughly 200 hotels and guesthouses, with prices ranging from about 200 to 2,000 yuan ($28 to $280) a night. Although the area welcomes visitors year-round, the peak season is winter, when the mercury can plummet to as low as minus 43 degrees Celsius, creating a wonderland of ice and snow.

As a result, while many accommodations have central heating, only the larger properties tend to offer air conditioning, or AC.

This has become a major issue in recent years, as the city increasingly experiences extreme weather over consecutive days. While local authorities insist these spells are “rare and typically short,” businesses have been left with a dilemma — invest in AC or risk losing bookings.

Zhang Xia has run the modest Liuzi Guesthouse in her native Beiji Village since 2008. In the past few decades, the area rarely ever got hot, “maybe two or three scorching days a year, but an electric fan was always sufficient.” That’s all changed, she says, adding that during a similar heatwave in 2024, guests began asking for well-ventilated rooms and recommendations on heat-beating activities, such as boat trips.

She had planned to install AC this year, but postponed it due to the inhibitive costs and to allow more time to look into greener cooling options, including improving the building’s insulation. In the meantime, she’s placed powerful fans in all the rooms and public spaces, and provides guests with iced beverages.

As Mohe usually only has about 80 days when temperatures are above zero, Guo Hao, another local who runs a guesthouse in Beiji, had always considered heating to be more important. But this year he’s decided to pay for AC.

“The weather has been unusually hot, and being inside the rooms at midday is especially stifling,” he says, adding that he expects heatwaves to become more common. “Many guests come to Beiji in summer specifically to escape the heat. Those from big cities are used to having AC at home, so suddenly being in a hot, stuffy environment is definitely hard to adapt to.”

Guo says he lost several thousand yuan this summer when several guests canceled their reservations at the last minute over their room not having AC. Though this fact was made clear on the booking platform, Guo felt compelled to accept the cancellation to avoid a dispute.

Logistical nightmare

Guesthouse owners who have opted to update their property have soon discovered that installing AC is neither quick nor cheap.

Qiu Jie, who opened a hotel in Beiji late last year, equipped all her rooms in April with combination AC units — which can provide hot and cool air — primarily to keep guests warm in spring, fall, and winter. She didn’t expect they’d be essential for the summer, with guests now often asking upfront about AC.

During the hottest periods, she observed guests — who were paying 1,000 to 2,000 yuan a night — staying inside all day or venturing only to nearby tourist spots. She also received bookings from those who had canceled at other guesthouses after discovering their rooms had no AC.

Even though Qiu had arranged her renovations before the peak season, it was a lengthy process. Only one company in Mohe provided installation services in Beiji, while shipping equipment to the remote village proved a logistical nightmare. In the end, due to delays and myriad delivery challenges, she paid roughly 25% above average to install each unit.

Guo traveled 80 kilometers to downtown Mohe to visit two electronics stores, but they each only had one or two AC units in stock. With the surge in demand, “buying, receiving, and installing AC was taking one to two months, and it was nearly impossible to book a technician,” he says.

On June 20, he ordered four units online. Nearly a month later, three had been installed, while the last one was still to be shipped. He recalls that delivery took over two weeks, and he had to wait four or five days for installation.

AC repair and installation technicians often need to travel eight hours by train from Daxing’anling Prefecture’s Jiagedaqi District, the largest logistics hub in the Greater Khingan region.

Despite the growing discussion on social media this year, Qiu feels the brief heatwaves won’t fundamentally affect tourism in Mohe. “For those who were here during the heat this year, it was just unfortunate timing,” she says.

However, anecdotal evidence suggests the availability of AC has become a key factor for potential guests. Speaking to a local TV reporter posing as a tourist, a staff member in the Beiji Village Scenic Area administration office suggested that visitors who might be sensitive to the heat should check the weather forecast and inquire with businesses in advance to ensure they select the most suitable accommodations.

(Due to privacy concerns, Su Chang, Guo Hao, and Qiu Jie are pseudonyms.)

Reported by Yuan Lu, He Junyi, and Lu Tianhao.

A version of this article originally appeared in The Paper. It has been translated and edited for brevity and clarity, and is republished here with permission.

Translator: Chen Yue; editors: Wang Juyi and Hao Qibao.

(Header image: Tourists visit the compass statue marking China’s northernmost point in Mohe, Heilongjiang province, July 25, 2025. Wang Xibao/VCG)