The Ice Mountain Range is only two hours' drive from Beijing and is one of the most popular summer escapes close to the capital. [Photo/China.org.cn]

If you find the Beijing heat suffocating, you can find relief at Bingshanliang, or Ice Mountain Range only 200 kilometers away. As its name suggests, the tourist resort has an average temperature of 18.8 Celsius during the summer.

Sprawling some 26 square kilometers, the peak of the mountain range is 2,211 meters above sea level. The landscape varies from open grasslands starred with blossoming wild flowers to bizarrely shaped rocks piled on one another.

In addition to the natural scenery, the resort also has tragic battle tales to tell. As a crucial geographical pass defending northern China, the mountains were an area for numerous battles. Today visitors can still see traces of these historical events such as exercise fields for soldiers and stone pillars where war horses were tied.

The Ice Mountain Range area includes the city of Chicheng, Hebei province which is home to other tourist sights including a section of the Great Wall and two hot springs resorts.

It's a two-hour drive from downtown Beijing to Chicheng. Buses depart daily from Beijing's Liuliqiao Bus Station. Ice Mountain Range is about 40 kilometers north of Chicheng.