Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful!

David huddled by the space heater in layers of clothing

 

Just how cold is it?

I wish I could impress you with a very low number. But in fact, the temperatures here are quite similar to Dallas. We were below freezing for 6 days this year. For the most part, the temperature seems to hover around mid-30's to lower-40's. Maybe my memory isn't serving me correctly, but I seem to think "winter" was a lot shorter at home in Texas. It is early March and it is still in the 30's most days here.

So why are we complaining about the cold?!?!
Think about a winter day in the US. What percentage of your day do you actually encounter "The Great Outdoors"? In the morning on your way to work you're probably cold walking out to your car. You also have a chilly few minutes as you wait for your car's heater to start working. You then have a cold walk (or jog) from your car to the office, grocery store, shopping center, etc. You get the idea. In China, we have no car. So we ride our bikes or walk everywhere, rain or shine. Then, once you get to your destination, you're most likely still outdoors. For example, the food market is open air, the bike repairman is outside, etc. And if you are lucky enough to go somewhere that's indoors (i.e. our classrooms) there is generally no heating whatsoever and the doors and windows stay open to allow for ventilation. There is virtually no escape from the cold.

Our apartment has a window A/C unit that can blow warm air. We have one in the study and one in the bedroom. Unfortunately, the one in the bedroom doesn't work very well. So almost anytime we are home, we are huddled in the study below the A/C unit and next to a space heater we bought in town. I laugh when I think about how I was so used to coming indoors and removing my coat in America. Here, you just wear your coat all the time (along with your scarf, hat, and gloves! My coat will not make it home for a second winter season after the abuse it has taken this year!). Much to our dismay, we do have to leave the study every-so-often to take showers, go to the bathroom, cook, wash dishes, etc. These are the worst times. Our living area (which is actually more of a hallway with the bathroom at one end and the kitchenette at the other) is FREEZING! You can see your breath everywhere you go in our apartment. The sink has no hot water, so the water is ice cold. Washing dishes or cleaning produce at our kitchen sink requires us to stand in front of the window that is constantly cracked open to allow the cold air to rush against our faces (I hate this!) Further, imagine washing dishes in your coat or robe; you get the cuff of your sleeves wet. Too bad, you only brought one coat and don't have a dryer! Luckily, the Chinese are clever and have invented a solution to this problem; they have these "sleeve protectors" that you wear on your forearms. They have elastic bands on both ends: One by your wrist and the other by your elbow. They're sold everywhere and everyone wears them (and not just for doing dishes, but around town and to school as well). I've heard their primary purpose is "fashion", but I find they do a good job of keeping your sleeves clean as well. Needless to say, I bought a pair. :-)

 Tiffany in many layers to brave the cold kitchen. Look at those awesome sleeve protectors!

The second reason winter is so miserable is because it is also very, very wet. Hunan Province's winters are as damp and gray as they are cold. In fact, I was inspired to write this blog entry because I haven't seen the sun in over 18 days and have become "stir crazy" sitting in my one slightly-heated room. The extreme dampness has many negative effects beyond putting you in a bad mood. First, we have no dryer. This means we hang our clothes out to dry. Guess what - they never dry! We have resorted to hanging our clothes inside under our A/C unit and leaving them this way for about 6 to 10 days. Some of our more important (thick) layers cannot be left out of commission that long, so to be honest, we wear the same things over and over and do less laundry. That sounds kind of dirty, but I'm not sure that it's that big of a loss. Even when we do the laundry, I'm not so sure our clothes come out that much cleaner. We step out of the warm shower into a damp, cold Chinese-made (ie. thin) bath towel. Towels never dry and you feel wetter after using them. Furthermore, our apartment grows mold like a month-old loaf of bread. I get the impression that many homes in our city have this problem, but ours seems to have an extreme case of mold invasion. Mold grows on our walls, in drawers, on medicine bottles, door frames, shoes, clothing, suit cases, and the list goes on. Before we left for our Spring Festival trip to Southwestern China and Southeast Asia, I pulled my clean summer clothes out of my dresser, only to find them all covered in fluffy patches of mold. It is really one of the more disgusting things I've seen. The wetter it is, the more mold we get. Over the course of the winter, we began to notice that the Chinese always leave windows and doors open. Now we know why and have begun doing the same. If we go one day without opening our windows for ventilation, our bedroom begins to smell of mildew. So, windows must be open, and therefore it is always as cold inside as it is outside.

 Clothes trying to dry. Check out that damp window!

1/4 inch thick mold growing on the bottom of my summer sandals. Gross!

Rain, Rain go away...

If you are not yet convinced that winter is a beating here, I'll share yet a third reason. I have been sick nearly every other week this winter. It's quite easy to catch a cold here, considering the lower standard of hygiene and all the strands of new and different bacteria and viruses available in China. These, combined with the constant cold and wet environment make for the "perfect storm". It is miserable enough to have a cold and feverish chills. It is ten times worse when you are living in an ice box! Further, I wish I had a bed that was made of something other than plywood (springs, perhaps?) or a couch to lie on. I'd lie on the floor, but our home is the coldest next to the tile. You just can't escape the pain of being sick here!

The last reason that winter is rough here is because most produce and food items are local. Thus, you can only buy what's available here in the winter. No, they didn't ship fresh tomatoes from Mexico. So I've learned to be flexible in my food selections. The Chinese don't believe in frozen or prepackaged foods. There are no canned items or frozen veggies, so the variety is quite a bit less in the winter. They do seem to be shipping some fruit from China's southernmost island, Hainan Island, which is nice for a change!

To sum it up: We are so cold that we'd rather wear the same clothes day and night instead of having to take anything off in order to change into pajamas. It is so cold that we dread sitting on the near-frozen toilet seat (it is only when we really, really need to go to the bathroom that we'll even consider coming out from under the blankets at night to walk through the freezer that is our apartment). It is so cold that we hate taking showers because again, it means you have to take your clothes off for a brief moment before getting in the (sometimes) warm water. It is so cold that we can see our breath all the time, everywhere, for the entire winter. And it is so cold that you'd sometimes rather go hungry than stand in the kitchen for any extended period of time. It's cold!

Wow, what do you do to cope?

We sit around our electric space heater when we can. We have a hot water bag we heat up and put in the bed about 20 minutes before going to bed to help warm up the icy sheets. We wear more layers than you can imagine. We sleep in hats, gloves, and even scarves! We drink hot tea all the time! We do yoga to warm up as well. And last, even though it's cold and rainy, we go outside on our bikes to run errands or go see people because, frankly, it's just as cold inside as it is outside.

Would you say this was a bad experience?
So, it's not the most comfortable situation I've been in, but you know, it didn't kill me! I have to say, I'm really proud that we survived a winter like this. I don't think I really knew what "cold" was until I moved here. I also think that we are quite spoiled in America with our electricity (not saying that I don't want it - but I'm recognizing that we have it available everywhere and anytime we want it). I even think I realize that I could do my part to use less in America. Granted, when I have a cold I'll turn my heat up, but maybe I can keep my layers on indoors and not turn the heat on so high. I think it's a great idea to heat only the portion of the house you are using, too. I've also learned that I won't fall over dead from being cold and can enjoy going outdoors even in the winter.

But really, we are lucky. Many of the houses around us have gaping holes in the sides and windows without panes. The wonders of insulation have not been discovered in China, that's for sure! The winter pajamas people wear here are ridiculously thick, like a cheap polyester quilt, with matching bottom and top. They are even worn out in public (its so funny to see middle-aged women walking around town in their pajamas!), although I don't imagine the quality of the fabric is very warm at all. People wear slippers outdoors because their shoes are too thin. The children are bundled in layer after layer until they look like miniature, wobbly sumo wrestlers who can't even lay their arms down to their sides because of all the padding. We get a kick out of the fact that, although these babies are so bundled up, a gaping hole is left in their pants so they can go the bathroom on the street at a moment's notice. Their poor little red bottoms look so cold!!! We just don't see what the use is of bundling everything up but keeping their private parts exposed to the breeze?! To save on electricity, our school has a rule regarding when the A/C units can be used to warm their dorm rooms. These units can only be used when the temperature dips into the 30's. We feel especially bad for them when the temperature is just above the threshold at which they can turn on their heaters. Surely, they deal with even colder nights than we do. In class, things are not a lot warmer. Our students wear their layers, winter coats, and scarves to class and keep them on throughout the day. Some even bring "hot water bags", which look like whoopie-cushions that you fill with boiling water and carry around (or set on your lap in class) to keep you warm. We have one of these bags for our bed at night - they're great!

Here (as with many aspects of life in China), I feel like I am not that far removed from what Americans experienced not that long ago, before central heating was commonplace. I also recognize that some of you spend your days working and playing in the cold outdoors, and to you I tip my hat! I will probably look back on this year as the coldest winter of my life. Hopefully it can give me strength when I look back and say, "Remember the time I was dog-sick and I had to ride my bike uphill in the freezing rain for 45 minutes to buy some strange concoction at the Chinese pharmacy for a sore throat?" It's been a good lesson and an interesting experience, but I think I'm ready for Spring to come. It really ain't easy being Chinese for a winter!

David and I have spent most of our lives in Texas, where "winter" means you get to light a fire in the fireplace a couple of times a year, cook soup, drink hot chocolate, and buy a new sweater. We knew that the winter in China would be one of our biggest challenges before we moved here, so we bought long underwear and thick socks and packed our heaviest jackets. I was particularly dreading the challenges winter would bring me, seeing as I find myself cold whenever it drops to 70 degrees! So here it is now March, and I'm happily reporting that we have survived the winter in China thus far (and hopefully have only a little bit of it left to go). I thought I'd write about the experience because I just might not believe it myself a few years down the road!