Chongqing, a city in China’s southwest known for its hotpot restaurants and cyberpunk cityscape, is experiencing record heat as temperatures top 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit). Locals, including Liu Fengying, are coping with the increasing heat by playing card games and sharing snacks with friends. The city’s power grid has been strained by record heat across China, with demand exceeding 1.5 billion kilowatts.
After daily peaks exceeding 40 degrees Celsius for a week, Chongqing elevated its heat-wave warning to the highest level – a red alert – on Thursday. 21 out of its 38 districts are forecast to hit up to 43 degrees Celsius, with a peak of 44 degrees Celsius projected for Sunday. Historically, daily peaks in the city of nearly 32 million people have rarely exceeded 39 degrees Celsius in July, which is already very hot by global standards.
However, some Chongqingers remain unfazed. Swimmers, like Xie, 79, and Qiu Xianhui, 36, have been swimming in China’s longest river to cool down. They claim that Chongqing has always been a furnace city, but they have the river to cool down. Locals, like Liu Fengying, are used to 40-plus degree weather and are using innovative ways to cope with the heat.
