(Written by a friend in Shanghai)
July 20th was the eleventh day in Shanghai this year in which the temperature was over 35 degrees. It was only 32 degrees yesterday, but it was a sweaty day, as it was muggy and the air pressure was low. We have slept in an air-conditioned room for about a month and will depend on it all through August. There were 28 days of 35 degree weather last year, and it is forecast that there will be even more this year. My God!
(Editor's note: 35 degrees Celcius = 95 degrees fahrenheit.)
I remember what life was like in my childhood when we didn’t have air-conditioning. When I felt hot, I waved a fan to get a current of air. The neighbor’s children and I poured cold water on the ground before supper, and after we ate, we brought out wooden stools, chatted and played games. It was the best part of the day. When I finally went to bed, I opened the windows wide. There were only three or four days above 35 degrees then, as there were fewer people and factories. The environment wasn’t as hot as it is now.
Now I can’t think of how life would be without air-conditioning. Many young people have never used a fan, and they work in offices with air-conditioning so they have to have air-conditioning at home, too.
I fan myself or use an electric fan in the daytime and have the air-conditioner on in the evening. We walk for about half an hour after supper and then watch TV or do other things in the air-conditioned room. That uses more electricity, and I feel that staying a long time in an air-conditioned room isn’t all that good for one’s health.