Heat Watch update
Friday afternoon I paid my heating bill. For the entire season, lasting from November 15 (ish) to March 15 (ish), our cost is 2,919 RMB. This cost, about US $459, is determined by the size of our apartment. It is the same we paid last year, though I was not given a free jug of cooking oil. I was even prepared for the question this time. Now that I have paid, we actually have heat for which to watch.
Except for a few nights early last week it isn't desperately cold yet. I have slept with my slippers on, but with heavy pajamas we aren't shivering under our blankets. Only one evening have we even briefly run one of our space heaters.
One of the nights last week that was rather cold, Myles and Randy alerted me to something happening on the corner across from our building. Someone had started a fire, they said. This isn't unusual as every once in a while we're bound to see someone setting a small fire to burn memorial offerings on the street (or occasionally in the hallway or stairwell). There have also been at least two times we have driven past a funeral pyre in Changping.
I had to get out my camera to see what offerings these people were making at such a late hour. I could not get a good focus, but as far as I could tell, they were just keeping warm.
Heat Watch 2011 continues.
Except for a few nights early last week it isn't desperately cold yet. I have slept with my slippers on, but with heavy pajamas we aren't shivering under our blankets. Only one evening have we even briefly run one of our space heaters.
One of the nights last week that was rather cold, Myles and Randy alerted me to something happening on the corner across from our building. Someone had started a fire, they said. This isn't unusual as every once in a while we're bound to see someone setting a small fire to burn memorial offerings on the street (or occasionally in the hallway or stairwell). There have also been at least two times we have driven past a funeral pyre in Changping.
I had to get out my camera to see what offerings these people were making at such a late hour. I could not get a good focus, but as far as I could tell, they were just keeping warm.
Heat Watch 2011 continues.
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