Eric's Beijing Diary

Beijing from Fragrant Hills, with Biyun Temple in the foreground.
It seems to happen every spring. After the first bloom of spring, it gets cold again. Frustrating, because the hot water (for heating) usually gets turned off after the middle of March. So when the cold snap hits, there is no heat in the buildings. I guess it is good in a way, because it gives North China folks a chance to see what life is like in a South China winter. It's not quite that cold, but the you do need to dress warmly inside. Usually I just wear a light sweatshirt inside in the winter. In South China, people wear their parkas inside, since there is no heat in the buildings. As I have mentioned before, the policy in China is that all public buildings (including apartment buildings) north of the river should be equipped with hot water heat (a boiler in the basement, and water circulating through the pipes). So North China is actually much more live able than South China during the winter months. But the water is turned on in November, and turned off in March. If you get cold weather after the middle of March, you're out of luck.