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.
