Spring suspended

Last week was fabulous...

- The local doctor took his desk and stethoscope outside and saw his patients on the sidewalk
- In the office, my colleagues took off their coats for the first time since November.
- I took all the blankets and winter coats and put them away. I unplugged all the heaters. Opened all the windows. Made shorts from my old jeans. Rearranged the balcony.

Saturday evening I took a train to Yangzhou. It was 31°.

Sunday evening I took a train back to Shanghai. It was 8°.

- I brought out the blankets again and went to bed shivering with pyjamas on.
- In the office, everyone was wearing their winter coats again, we drank warm water and the heater full blast on.
- And the doctor? Well...

Maybe when Spring decides to show it's face again. Next week perhaps?

Scorching heat

Temperatures are soaring high, over 35 degrees for the past ten days. Everyone with AC closes doors and windows and stays in, enjoying the chill. It's only from 8pm that the streets are full with people catching some fresh air. Heavy thunderstorms light the skies almost every night, taking some of the heaviness away, for a short while.

Walking around town, the typical sight of drying laundry is no longer exceptional as it was during the few dry days of Spring. Instead, blankets, woolen sweaters, and even underwear are now dried everywhere, all the time. On bamboo poles, on washing lines in the street, on top of bushes: laundry is an intrinsic part of Shanghai's culture.