North China suffers long days of record temperatures exacerbated by drought. Earlier this week, Beijing recorded nine straight days of temperatures above 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), according to the National Climate Center — a streak not seen since 1961.
Hangzhou, on the eastern coast; Wuhan, in the center of the country; and Shijiazhuang, in Beijing’s neighboring Hebei province, opened their bomb shelters to residents wanting to escape the heat.
The authorities have issued health alerts and outdoor work has been suspended in the capital and other cities.
So far two deaths have been attributed to the sweltering heat. Health authorities reported that a tour guide fainted and died of heat stroke during a walk through the Summer Palace, a massive 18th-century imperial garden. Last month, a woman in Beijing also died of heat stroke.
Health authorities in Shaoxing, a neighboring city of Hangzhou, said on Thursday that there have been deaths due to the heat, but gave no details.
Cities like Chongqing in the southwest, known for their hot summers, have used their air-defense tunnels as public shelters from the heat for years.
Chinese cities built bomb shelters during the Japanese invasion in 1937. Construction resumed in the late 1950s, as relations with the Soviet Union deteriorated and Beijing feared a nuclear attack.
Many current shelters have seating areas and offer water, soft drinks, heat stroke medication, and even Wi-Fi, television, and ping-pong tables.
FUENTE: Associated Press
