The Heat is on...

Before we came to China, I read that Nanjing was one of China's "summer furnaces". Well, we are well and truly cooking in it at the moment! We've had 2 weeks of temperatures hovering around 40 degrees Centigrade (that's 100+ in old money); add to that high humidity and two children who believe that they should be outside all the time "because it's sunny" and I'm feeling pretty hot!

If it were up to me, we would stay inside  but this is not an option so we go out and about in an attempt to keep the kids occupied. This weekend, we ventured into the city but as you can see, the streets are pretty deserted as the sensible Chinese stay in and stay cool (and those who are out tut at our lack of umbrella to keep the sun off!):

What is it that they say about mad dogs and the English....
Not many other people are daft enough to be out in the midday heat today!

We have, however, found ways of keeping cool on these ridiculously hot days. The first is the swimming pool in the compound where we live. I have been taking the kids most days and it means that we can spend an hour or so without sweating. Our regular visits have also had the positive side-effect that Olivia can now swim totally unaided (for a few metres anyway!) and Angus has also rediscovered his confidence in the water although this is sometimes heart-stoppingly scary as he now thinks nothing of jumping in from the side, his only warning as he counts 1, 2, wheeeeee! (And the 1, 2 are in Chinese! Show off!)

The pool in our compound looks like it belongs in a 1950s English holiday camp but it's wet and it's cool and that's all that matters to us!

On the days when we stay at home, Olivia likes to ride her bike up and down the street as I push Angus on his bike (in 40 degree heat! By rights, I should be 2 dress sizes slimmer by the end of the summer...) After the hard work, we cool off under the sprinklers in the garden:

Angus patiently waits his turn as Olivia cools off!

I discovered a new favourite way to cool down on Saturday when I left Alasdair and the kids at home and walked the mile or so to the shopping centre to buy birthday presents for Olivia. That was thirsty work so after a very complicated purchasing process (that's one for another blog post!), I stumbled into Costa Coffee. I ordered an ice-cold double chocolate something or other, sat down with my Kindle and spent half an hour in quiet, air-conditioned bliss!