To ring in the frigid temperatures in Chicago, I thought I’d post this photo from a time when I really couldn’t escape the cold.
I was in college in Hong Kong and felt sorry for myself for the two weeks when the temperatures plummeted to 6C, or 42F.
But then I went to China and really lost it. The temps were more like 2C or 35F, just above freezing.
A college sweatshirt and trench coat didn’t exactly do the trick. We had no heat inside, so kept our coats on inside and out.
The only relief came at night thanks to the electric blankets on the beds.
Since then I’ve had a fear of the cold. Tell me again why I live in Chicago?
Yeah, Shanghai is rather cold right now. :O I hope this winter will be bareable for you!
Stay warm in Shanghai! It’s very cold here, about -14C, but I’m doing all right!
I live in a southern state, Texas, and right now we’re having a cold weather that involves ice on roads and being inside as well as a very energetic 3 year old male dog that needs a way to get his energy out and a sweet miniature dachshund that I worry whether or not she’s cold.
Sveta, I’ve heard about the terrible weather in Texas now. Stay warm and safe. I hope you’ve been able to take the dogs out. Luckily my cat doesn’t know any better…
It’s cold here at the moment in Tianjin, but it’s yet to snow. Our apartment’s got radiators in it, which are the hot water circulation type common to the area, pumped from a station somewhere through huge pipes… they make the house akin to a sauna.
This year, because of the lowering of the price of coal, they were turned on early because the heating fee hadn’t been reduced – so it’s been steamy inside longer.
My students, however, seem not to be seeing the benefits of this, and come to class complaining of how cold it is, how cold they were, and how awful it all is. Yet the classroom’s heated to a point where I’m in a t-shirt and jeans, still feeling hot, and they won’t take off their down coats, and have several layers of thermal underwear on.
Unless I’m entertaining (or vigilant), they’re asleep in minutes because they’re too hot.
In Summer they say they’re too hot, and that they should have air conditioners in their rooms like those in Unis in the South.
I’m fairly sure that they, like most students the world over, just like to grizzle about everything being “not fair”.
Looking out the window at the moment, you could be fooled by the (albeit incredibly rare) clear blue sky that it’s not as cold as you think, but it’s still pretty damn cold. My infrared thermometer tells me it’s 0.9oC outside at 0900, and I don’t think it’ll get much warmer today.
So, Susan, you might live in Chicago because your husband is there, and love warms the cockles of your heart… but probably not the soles of your feet on tile floors?
That’s crazy about the students still thinking it’s cold inside when you have those radiators. I had those in uni in the US and they were heavenly. I wore shorts and t-shirts indoors in the winter and felt so liberated! That was in Baltimore, near Washington, DC, which doesn’t get as cold as Chicago–or Tianjin–but it still snows there.
It’s currently -14C in Chicago, and my feet are protected in lambs wool slippers I bought in Montreal last year. I wear those slippers year-round, though!
Having seen a few of the photos that you’ve posted on your blog over the short time I’ve been visiting, I must say that you seem to be one of those weird people who become more beautiful as you age. I mean, I’m not saying that you were hideous in your younger days or anything, but you’re really gorgeous now.
Anyway, it’s probably just as well that China has such restricted use of central heating. People already complain about the amount of green house gas that China is producing as it is, so can you imagine how much more the outrage would be if China had more central heating? Plus, it doesn’t get that cold in southern China, does it? I always imagined the region was more like Taiwan, with a subtropical climate.
Wow, T, this is the loveliest comment I’ve ever received. (blush) I guess it’s an inner happiness showing through that perhaps wasn’t there before? And fortunately the styles have changed for the better since the late 80s/early 90s!
I was in Hubei, so right at the Yangzi River. It usually went down to 2C or 3C when I was there. Granted that it’s now -14C in Chicago, so much worse. Hong Kong was ideal. There were a couple weeks each year in February when it dipped down to 6C, but that didn’t last long.
Thank you again for your comment!
Yep, I’m with R…not much has changed. Thank goodness I bought an electric blanket and we have an electric heating unit in the room!
I’m so glad you have that blanket and heating unit! Stay warm! I’m sure it’s already quite cold there.
Sounds like nothing much has changed. There’s still no heating anywhere south of the Yang-tse. If you want to have it warm, you’ll have to buy electric heaters (which fortunately are available, but probably don’t help much in saving energy, as is supposedly the reason behind the lack of central heating in Southern China). My husband has just bought electric heaters and heatable slippers.
Heatable slippers sound divine! I really wished I had had electric heaters back then. I remember going to friends’ homes who had heaters (only a couple did), I never wanted to leave! Once we went to the countryside to visit some family and my former husband wanted to sleep over there. It was even colder than his parents’ home because we would have to sleep on the floor and the house was very bare-boned. Fortunately my youngest sister-in-law put her foot down. That was a close call!