China Heatwave!

[roddy]

How's everyone coping with the hot weather then? Up here in sunny Beijing we've apparently been nudging 40^oC, and Sina now has a dedicated page for the heat, which is as close to a state of emergency as China can allow itself to get.

From where I'm reclining it hasn't actually been that bad - yes, it's pretty damned hot and everything you touch does seem to be radiating heat at you. But these last few days here in Beijing have been (thankfully) dry and not humid, which means even if you sweat it basically dries right off you before you notice. And pollution hasn't been too bad - sure, the sky is a bit brown at the edges, but look up and there's real live blue there. So hot, yes, but could be a hell of a lot worse.

But just in case you're suffering, here's my top tips for coping with the excessive warmth:

1) Get yourself a 凉席 - sleeping mat. Anyone who is still sinking into a mattress in this weather frankly doesn't deserve a decent night's sleep. Go bamboo, go happy.

2) Don't overdo the air-con. If you need it on, set it to a rational temperature and leave it there. Bouts of blowing 16^oC air into the room until you start to shiver and then turning it off mean that you spend the entire day whizzing past comfortable. And if you can, do without it - adjust to the temperature, don't fight it. Also, remember that if you're Korean, fans and air-conditioning can be fatal.

3) If you're having trouble sleeping, ditch all pride and do whatever is necessary. If the bathroom is the coolest room in the house, go sleep there. The heat of the day is only going to seem worse if you're grouchy from lack of sleep. If your neighbors have taken to sleeping outside, go join them. Platonically, for preference.

4) There's an old wives tale that hot drinks cool you down. This is patent nonsense and flies in the face of all known laws of thermodynamics. At best the body overshoots a little as it frantically tries to cool down after you inadvisedly pour a liter of boiling water into it. Consume lots of ice-cream and cold drinks - if your spine isn't spasming, consume faster. McDonald's is an excellent source of frozen fat-based products, and air-conditioned to boot.

5) Don't let the heat tempt you into a light diet of salads and suchlike - this is the ideal time to build up a layer of fat for winter.

[skylee]

it is about 34 degrees in HK, and with our usual humidity it is hot enough. I don't use air-con at home. My strategies are electric fans, showers, rattan sleeping mat, iced water (preferably sparkling), iced tea, iced white wine, and zero activity. With the windows open and an electric fan on I could sleep surprisingly well on the rattan mat. Highly recommended.

During the day I usually stay in an air-conditioned office where I can't see any daylight at all.

PS - I have come to the conclusion that if one must walk in the blazing heat of the sun it is better/more comfortable to have the limbs covered.

[gougou]

I certainly don't regret moving into the hutong, I probably could sleep with blanket if I wanted to... Still planning to get one of those bamboo mats though.

Through trial and error I can also tell you that you should drink a lot and exercise little - I tried the opposite last weekend and it wasn't pretty.

[doraemon]

I'm pretty sure drinking green tea and meditation help as well. ;)

[Brian US]

I do feel like an old person for this, but I bought a hand fan for those long walks. It does wonders.

[roddy]

I think old people would be wise enough to not take any long walks, you crazy fool.

I want to get some kind of bamboo pillow mat or something, it's the head that's overheating at the moment.

I also want to get my hair cut, but I just know the guy will make some reference to how sweaty my head is as I sit there. I swear, Chinese people are always doing that. I was once asked, after carting a huge backpack and holdall up five flights of stairs on an August afternoon, why I was sweating so much. If I ever commit murder it'll be after an incident like that. Just because I've got a normal number of sweat glands . . .

[Neil_H]

Even in the UK we have hit 30c in recent weeks. In the South it has not rained for 6 weeks and that was only a light shower when it did. Grass is brown and dying off.

[zening]

I appreciate Green Tea and Iced Drinks. ;)

[joshuawbb]

Wow, looks like we're all getting it.

Here in Xiamen it's just as hot, with temperatures averaging aroung 35 - 38 degrees in most city areas, and some areas outside the main island such as Jimei district have been touching 39 to 40. Xiamen is known for having hot summers but it's not as extreme as the further south, e.g. Guangzhou. These past few days have felt hotter than I felt visiting Guangzhou for a day last year.

I dread going outside right now - bring a Brit used to soggy weather and cool summers, I really don't like the heat much. Whenever I'm on my way to class it doesn't take the sweat long to make my shirt as heavy as a soaked towel. It doesn't help that I hurt my back yesterday and had to walk around everywhere slowly today, moving between campus buildings trying to sort out an issue with my e-student card. I tend to weat darker shirts - not because I'm masochistic (that trait is reserved for Chinese study), but because the sweat doesn't show up as clearly. My tall fan and I have been great friends recently.

I'm a redhead; I burn and don't tan, but even I managed to tan a little bit recently. My girlfriend laughs at my tan line whenever she pulls up the front of my hair. The buses here all have their curtains closed and air-con on full blast, yet the city's 1 yuan bus fare policy (most buses) is still kept for now. Hopefully the heat will be less intense as the week goes on. In the meantime, I'm going for a cold shower and ice cream ;)

[adrianlondon]

Was 34 in the shade (37 in the sun) here in Basel over the weekend. Unfortunately, if I keep my bedroom windows open then I get woken up early, as every Swiss person appears to be an early riser and don't understand people who might want to stay in bed after the sun's risen.

I've got a ceiling fan and that's wonderful. I sleep very well. Just need a fan for the living room and I'm all set.

[Flying Pigeon]

If I had a beer belly, I could walk around with my shirt pulled up halfway, sunning and rubbing my tummy. I see alot of that, combined with one pant leg rolled up just beneath the knee.

But since I'm skinny and wear shorts when it's hot, I've been keeping cool with hawthorn berry popsicles.

Oh, and I also shaved my armpits.

[putonghua73]

If I had a beer belly' date=' I could walk around with my shirt pulled up halfway, sunning and rubbing my tummy. I see alot of that, combined with one pant leg rolled up just beneath the knee[/quote']

I thought that this was a Kunming phenomenon. Obviously not.

It's high 20s here in Kunming (21 degrees on Wednesday 7th July - so very cool by comparison); although the last weekend felt like 30s+ - it was ridiculously hot. However, it was nowhere near 40 degrees that some are experiencing; so for that, I can be grateful as I prefer a temperate climate.

I'm glad that the UK is experiencing a heatwave because the winter was brutal this year. Until the day I left for Kunming at the start of April, I wore my [burberry] winter coat every, single day because it was so goddamn cold in the UK!

I too frequently depilate - not because it is hot, but because I don't like hair on certain parts of my anatomy. I also depilate my girlfriend from time to time (it has been a new experience for her) - perhaps we're verging into 'too much information' territory, so let's put a stop right here.

Stay cool and stay safe.

Cheers!

Edited July 7, 2010 at 01:33 AM by putonghua73

[gato]

Wow. Haha.

[Daan]

perhaps we're verging into 'too much information' territory, so let's put a stop right here.

Thanks, I guess ;)

[SiMaKe]

Similar heatwave here in Connecticut (east coast US). Temp at 36 but "feels like" 40 (the weather service site I use (AccuWeather) computes a RealFeel index). Sounds like similar conditions around much of the globe at this general latitude.

Putonghua73, thanks for the on-the-ground update for Kunming. I had just looked on the net and saw the mild temps so kind of "wished I was there".

Don't forget, we can always go to southern Australia at this time of year - it's winter there.

[roddy]

Good bit cooler in Beijing today, if somewhat muggy. We're promised rain later though.

Oh, and do you have a girlfriend, putonghua73? I don't believe you've mentioned that before.

[BertR]

I'm pretty sure he has already mentioned it before more than once

[SiMaKe]

Putonghua73, just ignore them, they're just envious.

[jbradfor]

FWIW, the heatwave has hit the mainstream USA press: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2010/0708/Odd-things-happen-when-a-heat-wave-hits-China

[roddy]

You've got to use the right kind of manhole cover. Roasting again today, but it's better than boiling. Wind and coolness promised for tomorrow, but the rain never arrived, so who trusts 'em?