J+153 HEATING in China

This is a special response to a question I have been asked many times~

"How do the Chinese heat their homes? Schools?"

We all know that china is being pointed out for being one of the most polluting countries, but what is the common behaviour here?

 

 

When it comes to heating, I can try and answer it.

First of all, the Chinese are the most 怕冷 （scared of cold) people I have ever met.

Living in Nanjing, we do get cold days, but the temperature rarely goes under
0 degrees Celsius, and when it does, we are talking -5 no more.

However, people here wear 2 or 3 thick layers under their jeans, up to 7-8 layers
for the upper body!

The question I get asked ALL THE TIME ＂ 你冷不冷？？＂are you cold?)

As surprising as it can seem, most homes are cool, 15 degrees.
They all use 空调 (air conditioner) at home.Because it is cheaper, efficient and mostly,
very convenient. At home, they have small units (like the one you see on the photo)
and in schools, they have bigger one.

Here is a strange thing: each student in the class payed 80¥ for "heating costs" ,
but I have hardly ever seen that unit ON!

All the classrooms in my school are equipped, so are the ones in the other schools of Nanjing.

In schools they are very careful about waist of energy.

In the shops here, it's overheated. We constantly have to take coats of,
same for the underground, and huge public places.

From what I see, the heating is being used in a fairly reasonable way.

I did some research and fell upon an interesting article , points out the contrast
between north and south of china. the climate being so different, only north of
China has a central heating system. I am going to quote it:

" As winters get colder, more people are urging the government to build a central heating system in South China too. But few among these people have thought about factors such as efficiency and differences in climate in northern and southern China."

"Central heating is a necessity for people in North China, whereas it is needed in the southern parts to make people more comfortable."

" Take major cities like Nanjing and Shanghai in South China as examples. If people there use their air conditioners to keep their houses warm in winter, they would be using 6 to 8 kilowatts of electricity per square meter per month, which is equivalent to burning about 3 kg of coal. But 20 kg of coal would be required to keep one square meter of indoor space warm for a month through a central heating system."

This should give people an idea of how heavy the energy burden would be if central heating is introduced in the southern part of China."

 At the school library :

From what I experience here, I can tell you, most of the time, at home, I wear 2 jumpers and a coat, at school too.

I hope I answered your question, don't hesitate to return questions.