Scenic spots in Hebei province, just a few hours drive from Beijing, used to be the last places that many Beijingers chose to spend their holidays. Many people think the further you travel, the better the feeling of escape. But this way of thinking is changing, as more city-dwellers take off on rural getaways.

Mr. Wang and his family drove for three hours to visit Xingtai for the weekend. And they had a better time than they had expected.