Society

Lingering heatwave hits people's daily life

By Gao Qihui (Chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-07-07 15:55

The lingering heat wave has scorched many parts of China, greatly affecting people's daily life, according to reports by local media around China.

In Beijing, the water supply system faced problems sending water to higher floors. The residents living in the Tianxin Garden community at Changping district found that water could not be sent to homes above the fourth floor on July 6, Beijing News reported. Residents in other communities of the distrct who suffered from the same water supply problem on July 7 were forced to use water buckets or washbasins to bring water upstairs.

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A staffer at a water supply company said that lingering high temperatures, lower air pressure and a sharp increase in the demand for water made the water pumps lose pressure to push the water into higher floors.

Meanwhile, some communities were facing the problem of power outages caused by the overloading on power utilities and poor condition of the equipment.

Also, some deaths have been reported around China. A male sanitation worker, Meng Qinghe, died from the heat on a street in Kaifeng city, Central China's Henan province on July 6, dahe.cn reported.

The 56-year-old man, who was found dead at noon by a colleague, worked from 5:00 am to 12:30 pm before he died. "In recent days, (we) cannot stop sweating and feel dizzy and weak, even if (we) just pedal the tricycle for a while," said several sanitation workers during their discussion about the death.

While most people are suffering from the heat, some are benefiting from it. Air-conditioner salesmen are enjoying the jump in monthly revenue as sales volume leaps, Beijing Morning Post reported.

Liu, a salesman at a branch store of electronics retailer Gome, said: "My income this month is expected to be more than 50,000 yuan ($7,376) if the hot weather lasts for another several days." Also, vendors who sell beverages are taking advantage of the heat and cashing in. Some of them can sell a remarkable 500 bottles a day.