Domestic tourist trips in China surpassed 1.8 billion from June to August, with revenue exceeding 1.2 trillion yuan (about $165 billion), according to latest data from the China Tourism Academy (CTA).

The travel market this summer was significantly hotter than the same period in 2019, with popular destinations receiving the highest number of tourists in history.

Compared with the summer of 2019, air ticket bookings in popular domestic cities increased by 40 percent, and hotel bookings surged, up 140 percent year on year.

Dai Bin, president of the CTA, said this summer was the hottest summer travel market in the past five years, partly because people wanted to escape the summer heat.

"This summer was particularly hot. In addition to the seaside, lakeside, mountains, grasslands and forests, theme parks in cities were also full of people who spent the summer cooling. Some tourists even went abroad to avoid the heatwave," said Dai.

In Yingkou, northeast China's Liaoning Province, the average number of tourists in Shanhai Square scenic area has been as high as 50,000 per day during the past several months. Located in the coastal district of Bayuquan, the scenic area entertains tourists with a relaxing mood created by beaches and sea breeze.

In Xiongyue Botanical Garden in the same district, various plants and animals live together on land covering 270,000 square meters, providing picturesque landscapes, cool air and the chance to get closer to nature.

Yang Hongyan, director of Bayuquan's culture and tourism department, said the district received 4.5 million tourists from June to August, making about 3.8 billion yuan.

In the city of Kunming, southwest China's Yunnan Province, many chose to visit the open fair to experience local life. 

At 9 a.m. each day, the city's Daguanzhuan farm produce market was swarming with people. Data shows that the market saw an average daily passenger flow of up to 60,000.

According to Dai, the number of study trips reached a record high this summer. Tickets for popular museums were hard to book and touring well-known universities in China, such as Peking and Tsinghua, was difficult as well.

In response, museums in several cities, such as Hangzhou, Beijing, Xi'an and Shenyang, promised to open to visitors every day before the summer holiday ends, lifting the rule of "closed on Mondays" temporarily.

Compared with the same period in 2019, orders for family trips increased by about 80 percent, and orders for trips to museums increased by about 200 percent, according to tourism researcher Chen Linan with Trip.com Group, China's leading online travel service provider.