the North vs. the South

[Randy W]

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Winter's heated debate

 

Solace Wei, a New York-based researcher with the United Nations who is originally from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, described her hometown winter memories as "miserable." "You feel even colder indoors because of the humidity and people often get sick."

 

Wei's story is echoed by millions of people from southern China. According to a survey by the Guangzhou Daily in 2012, some 80 percent of the respondents called for central heating in areas south of the boundary along the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River.

 

The national policy stipulated that regions north of the boundary receive central heating due to their longer winter, which last for at least 90 days. Meteorologically, a winter day is defined when the average daily temperature falls below 5 C.

 

. . .

 

Residents in southern areas of the country normally resort to using air conditioning, electric heaters or floor heating in winter, which can push electricity bills past 3,000 yuan ($481) for periods of up to three months.

 

. . .

 

"Southern residents are used to opening their windows, which would drain more energy than heating the same amount of space in northern regions where there are sealed windows."

 

. . . and here I thought anything below 15°C was cold.

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[Mick]

My first year in China was spent in Hefei, capital of Anhui Province. Because it was south of the "central heating line" there was no heat in the classrooms. It was brutally cold there in the winter and there were mornings where I literally had to scrap ice off the blackboard due to the cold and the humid air. I had a pair of gloves with the fingers cut out of the right hand so I could write on the blackboard. My feet got cold in late October and didn't warm up until spring. Of course, the next four years we lived down in Guangdong on the coast, in Shantou, and didn't have heat there either. But it was rarely cold.

[Randy W]

The grandson's INDOOR outfit

 

[Mick]

Isn't he a bit young to be applying for a K-1, as his headgear implies?

[ama537621]

This post makes it very clear why my wife keeps telling me we must pack a lot of warm clothes when we move to China.

Edited January 1, 2013 by ama537621 (see edit history)