Chinese Winters

Whichever country you are reading this from, I’m sure you’re feeling a bit chillier than usual this week. Here in the semi-tropical environment of Southern China, I’m feeling cold too.

The French Alps felt warmer than China.
Or rather, the houses were made with weather changes in mind.

I’ve lived in far colder weather, hovering around zero (32F) in the French Alps and usually -15 (5F) in Lapland. But where the Lapland apartments were well insulated and properly equipped for the cold, China is usually warm and so there’s no insulation or heating.

For nine months of the year when its hot  I am grateful for the cooling air conditioning that every apartment has. The floors are tiled, as in many parts of Asia, which also helps to keep the place cool in the summer. Large screen doors open on to a cute little balcony and let in lots of light. Yeah the doors don't close properly, but a few gaps aren't too problematic when its so hot.

Its the closest to the equator
 Ive lived and its also been the
 coldest indoors during winter

Somehow overlooked is that, regardless how how fierce the warmer months can be, it does still drop to uncomfortably cold temperatures for a quarter of the year. Ill-fitted doors and no heating become serious when the temperature inside has been averaging five degrees (41F) for the past few weeks. 

Its not just the apartments in my area that are unfit for winter; friends up in Beijing and also further down south in Shenzhen have admitted their lack of heating too. The preferred solution seems to be wearing hats and coats indoors and waiting bitterly for the temperature to increase.

Whilst it does frustrate me that the screen doors in my apartment are so ineffective in the cold, I was simply baffled that doors and windows are left open at my preschool. The school Principal informed me that it is the law for classrooms to be aired each day, so its ‘unavoidable’.

What is avoidable is having no heaters in any of the classrooms. After all, with all the rooms open and no heating it’s not far removed from having toddlers spending the day outside. For sure there is air conditioning to cool the classroom down, but three months of the year is still a long time to have cold children for eight hours each school day. Indeed, there have been some complaints from parents who are not pleased about paying fees for a school that treats the children like this.

The cold may be helping the school rat problem at least, but not in a very nice way. Even though doors and windows get shut at night, rodents have tricks to get inside the school buildings for a midnight party. Where they excel in breaking and entering, their wits seem to be low when leaving behind physical evidence… and shitting on my desk. Not to mention somehow gaining access to inside my closed desk drawer and tucking in to biscuits that I was hiding there.

Yes I have a personalised crown- I work at a school so its ok.
What's not ok is rat shit on the desk. Every morning.

As this problem had been ongoing, some cage traps have been placed around the school. I won’t mention that the caretaker once poured boiling water on a caged rodent, as I’ve shared my thoughts on animal treatment in China already. During a school meeting this week it was announced that one trapped rat had frozen to death before any punishment could be dealt by the caretaker. That's pretty extreme, but maybe this poor devil had a lucky escape. All the Chinese staff laughed at this, I did not.

The drawer was shut and they still got in. Give me a break!

Later during that day, a curious sight: some red-clad men walking briskly, chanting and banging drums. They were also letting firecrackers off sporadically, so I thought this may have been good way to keep the body temperature up. In fact, they had another mission- warding away evil spirits. Its not something that particularly appeals to the logic centre in my brain but I have to keep telling myself to respect other people’s beliefs as I am in their country.

In the mornings I often hear the cackle of firecrackers from nearby building sites. Its often so thick that it sounds like a rattle of thunder to the untrained ear, but I've been enlightened by people who've lived here longer.

The purpose for such a thing is to frighten spirits from the building site and allow safe construction. Today, sadly, the men dressed in red were seeking to remove a different spirit. Not a ghost wishing ill of builders, but that of an elderly lady who had succumbed to the cold. Maybe is was angry at construction workers, for having made a building that isn't really fit to live in during the winter, elderly or not.

You hear about elderly in England dying because they can’t afford to pay to their heating. That’s not a problem in China, as there’s no central heating in the first place.

Motorbike taxis wait amongst a wash of firecracker debris

I didn't know whether to be shocked or not that this had happened. But when there are high chances of this woman having been in a very cold flat, how can I be surprised. All the flats in this area are quite similar- designed with the summer in mind only. And these are the more modern ones, so I have no idea what older building might be like. 

My bed time set up is a t-shirt, woollen jumper and hoody, in addition to having a hot water bottle and an electric blanket. I'm not singing for sympathy here, just trying to illustrate how cold a modern apartment can be without heating. An older person who falls asleep without properly covering themselves might not make it through the night.

But lighter news is in order.

Thankfully, with my 21 week school term now complete, I have a break over Chinese New Year and will be leaving the freezing flat for three weeks. By that time the weather should be warmer, which I am obviously looking forward to. I've heard that the sudden temperature change causes the walls to appear to be sweating... but I'll take that if it means not seeing my own breath constantly.


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