Der heißeste Sommer aller Zeiten: Selbst die Bewohner aus dem Nordosten Chinas können es nicht mehr aushalten und jagen um die Klimaanlagen.

Even before the little heatwave arrived, the temperature in Changchun had already reached 36 degrees.

In the memory of Rou Rou, a resident of Changchun, the summer in Changchun had never been so muggy. Even during the hot days of the dog days, the temperature had never exceeded 35 degrees. “There are only a few days in a year when it's hot. That's why the locals rarely buy air conditioners. A fan is enough.”

Now Rou Rou regrets most that she didn't listen to her husband's advice in May and didn't buy an air conditioner. Now she has not only missed the offers, but also can't sleep at night because of the long waiting time for the installation of the air conditioner.

Before this year, an air conditioner was not an absolute necessity in Northeast China. According to the “China Household Survey Yearbook 2023”, per 100 households in the provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang had 58.6, 17.7 and 13.3 air conditioners respectively. In contrast, per 100 households in Guangdong province had 229.1 air conditioners installed, which means that on average each household can have two air conditioners. Even some Internet users have made unofficial statistics and found that the proportion of households in Northeast China with air conditioners is even lower than the proportion of households with cars.”

With the heat, many residents in Northeast China who don't have air conditioners have got into trouble.

Why is it so hot in Northeast China?

Maybe it's the students in some universities in Northeast China who first had to feel the consequences of the lack of air conditioners. From the second half of June, various videos of students appeared on social media. Some sat in a pool and shouted “President, I can't sleep because of the heat”, others slept in groups with tents in the basement or by the lake …

Lanka, a second - semester student at a 985 - university, and her roommates could only sleep on the mat with the door open every evening to endure the heat. Although they used mats, it didn't help. They could only sleep for four hours and were woken up by the heat at 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning. Sometimes Lanka took out the fan from last year, but because of the heat, the fan only blew warm air. Some students who couldn't stand it anymore tried the original method of building “self - made air conditioners”. They put ice in front of the fan so that the fan blew cold air.” Some students who couldn't stand it anymore moved to a hotel. Lanka said that during this time, the hotels near the university that cost 200 yuan per night were always full.

This summer, many regions in China were affected by extreme heat. Liu Yuan, a leading engineer in the Risk Management Department for Meteorological Disasters of the National Climate Center, said in an interview with “Evening News” that the heat this year was particularly noticeable and that the first heatwave occurred between May 19th and 21st, which was more than one and a half weeks earlier than in other years. By July 8th, 147 state weather stations had registered extreme heat values, and 13 weather stations had exceeded record values. Also in Northeast China, there had been a rare heat period since June 24th. Even in some plains, the temperature exceeded 35 degrees.”

Scene excerpt from “When the Devil Calls Your Name”, Image source: Internet

Jiang Yiling from Harbin clearly feels that it's warmer this year than in other years. As someone who is relatively heat - resistant, she could even sleep with the windows closed during the dog days before. But this year, she had to open the windows before the dog days to be able to sleep.” The heat - sensitive old people in her family can't stand it at all. Because the apartment is not well - ventilated, the old people can't sleep at night. Due to their high - blood - pressure and heart diseases, they have also felt uncomfortable with their hearts for a few days.

Li Xinyue, who works in South China, also heard in a phone call from her parents in a county in Changchun that “it's getting warmer and warmer in Northeast China”. The heat is so strong that the old people don't want to eat or sleep.” They blow the fan all day long, but the mother still sweats. In Li Xinyue's memory, it was only hot for a few days in a year during the university summer holidays. “One could get used to it with a fan”.

Rou Rou even searched the Internet for the previous temperatures in Northeast China and found that the maximum temperature in Changchun in July last year was only 32 degrees. She looked at her phone showing 36 degrees and wondered in surprise, “I think it wasn't like this before. Why is it so hot so early this year? It's really terrible when you can't sleep at night.”

The hottest temperature in Changchun reached 36 degrees

Also on Xiaohongshu, netizens in Northeast China collectively complained about the weather this year.” Some say that they can't stand it anymore and feel forced to “make a decision that goes against the tradition of their ancestors” by not covering their navel when sleeping. Some are so hot that their phone breaks down and they have to buy a small cooling fan for their phone. Some say that their cats are gasping because of the heat and that it's still too hot even with three fans. Some have even fainted because of heatstroke. “I felt numb all over, sweated like a stream and couldn't move my hands and feet. My throat was tight and I couldn't breathe properly. I had to stay in the emergency room for a night” …

The humor of the residents in Northeast China also shows. A netizen from Jilin describes the heat like this: “I had to go to work in a hurry in the morning and didn't use the toilet at home. I drove for 10 minutes in the car without turning on the air conditioner. When I went to the toilet at work, I found that I was constipated! It was like a dryer from the inside out!”

“It can't be installed anymore”

An obvious consequence of the heat is that air conditioners in Northeast China are selling like crazy.

First, there were repeated supply bottlenecks for air conditioners online. On the third night when she was woken up by the heat, Rou Rou angrily opened her phone and clicked on JD.com to buy an air conditioner. Result: Almost all well - known brands were sold out. Even if there were some air conditioners that one could order, they were pre - orders, and the delivery time was uncertain.” When she saw the messages “Not in stock in your region”, she got even angrier and felt even hotter.

Also in the offline stores, the situation is not better.

On July 15th, we visited some directly - operated branches of air - conditioner manufacturers in Shenyang and found that all air conditioners under 2000 yuan were sold out. Especially well - known brands like Haier and Midea only had some mid - and high - end models in stock, which cost over 3000 yuan. “It's like this all over Shenyang”, a Xiaomi salesman told us. “This year, one simply can't sleep at night without an air conditioner. Before, there were people who didn't like air conditioners. But this year, there's no other way. That's why the orders are very concentrated.”

There are many heat - prevention products at the entrance of a store in Shenyang

The situation is similar for almost all air - conditioner manufacturers. According to the household network, the sales volume of Haier air conditioners in the three northern provinces of China has been steadily increasing since July. The turnover in Jilin has increased by 355% compared with last year, in Heilongjiang by 333% and in Liaoning by 518%.” Midea has also recorded a 356% increase in sales volume in Heilongjiang and Jilin.

But even if there are air conditioners in stock, consumers can't enjoy the cold air of the air conditioner immediately because the installers can't keep up. The Xiaomi salesman said that now one has to wait for the installation of the air conditioner. How long the waiting time is is uncertain. Even in areas with many new apartments, one may have to wait 10 days for an installer to come. “Yesterday, a customer made an appointment with an installer. The installer still has about 30 air conditioners to install”

Netizens are waiting for the installation of the air conditioner  

Even if one pays more, it's not certain that one can get an installer.

A netizen wrote a post on Xiaohongshu and urgently looked for an installer who could install the air conditioner on the same day. A few hours later, he said that he had found an installer. In the comment section, almost 20 people asked the netizen to recommend the installer. But the installer said that he didn't want to take any more orders. “It can't be installed anymore”

“Last week, air conditioners were very popular. The installers simply couldn't finish the work”, an employee in an electrical appliance store said. Since it got hot, air conditioners have been hard to get. “It's always like this. When it's not hot, no one is in a hurry to buy an air conditioner”

Even customers who cancelled their orders because of the long waiting time can't stand the heat anymore and finally buy an air conditioner in the store again.

This is also the case with Li Xinyue's parents. After Li Xinyue heard from her parents that they couldn't sleep because of the heat, she decided to buy them an air conditioner. The old people first refused and said that they could stand it. But after a few days, they couldn't stand it anymore and told their daughter, “Maybe we should buy an air conditioner” After Li Xinyue found that there were no air conditioners in stock online, she told her parents to go directly to the market and buy one. But the father learned in the market that one had to wait at least two weeks for the installation. He decided not to do it. “We can stand it a little longer”. But on Sunday, he couldn't stand the heat anymore and bought an air conditioner for 2000 yuan. He said that he would put his name on the waiting list.

To increase the installation speed, many brands have even sent installers to Northeast China. On July 7th, the vice - president of the Xiaomi Group and the president of the Chinese region announced on Weibo that the Xiaomi service department had urgently sent installation engineers from different parts of China to Northeast China and Inner Mongolia. JD.com has also sent 500 installers to Northeast China. The first installers arrived in some cities in Heilongjiang on July 9th. Midea has sent 150 service engineers from Shijiazhuang, Jinan and Zhengzhou to Northeast China.

The weather is on a roller - coaster

It's not only in Northeast China but also in other parts of China that there are extreme weather conditions this year.

First, the temperature changed frequently like on a roller - coaster. Even before the first month was over, it got warmer in most parts of China. In some parts of South China, the temperature was even almost 30 degrees. Then the cold snap came again, and spring failed.

From mid - to late May, it rained heavily in most parts of China. In some regions, the rainfall was so heavy that there were floods. In Guilin, Guangxi, ... (The text seems to be incomplete here)