Chongqing residents seek shelter as heatwave hits China’s south-west
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Temperatures topped 40 deg C in China's Chongqing on July 31, causing residents to seek air-conditioned places and ways to stay cool.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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CHONGQING - Temperatures topping 40 deg C have broiled Chongqing, a metropolis in China’s south-west known for its fiery hotpot restaurants and cyberpunk cityscape, pushing some locals to cope with the increasingly hot weather in innovative ways.
“It’s getting hotter and hotter,” said local resident Liu Fengying.
As afternoon temperatures soared on July 31, the 60-year-old avoided the heat by playing card games and sharing snacks with friends among around 100 retirees sheltering in the air-conditioned chill of a subway entrance.
“Aside from coming here, there’s really no other way to avoid the heat. Last night, even with the (air-conditioner) set to 17 deg C, it was still hot and wouldn’t cool down.”
Record heat across China has strained its power grid as demand surged to new all-time highs, now in excess of 1.5 billion KW, with records broken four times just in July.
After daily peaks exceeding 40 deg C for a week, Chongqing elevated its heatwave warning to the highest level – a red alert – on July 31, with 21 out of its 38 districts forecast to hit up to 43 deg C. A peak of 44 deg C is projected for Aug 3.
Historically, daily peaks in the city of nearly 32 million people have rarely exceeded 39 deg C in July, which is already very hot by global standards.
Since the start of May, the number of days the city recorded temperatures exceeding 35 deg C in 2025 was double the historic average.
But some Chongqingers remain unfazed – for now.
Mr Xie, 79, one of dozens of swimmers who gathered at a tributary of the Yangtze as the sun started to set on July 31, cools down with regular swims in China’s longest river.
“Chongqing has always been a furnace city, but we have the river to cool down,” he said before diving off a 2m-tall river bank in his underwear.
On the same night, Mr Qiu Xianhui, 36, came with friends to eat hotpot, Chongqing’s famously spicy broth, at a restaurant in one of the city’s old bomb shelters, where the air cools naturally.
“We’re locals, so we’re used to 40-plus degree weather. We’ve seen it all,” he said. REUTERS
