The inhabitants of Chongqing seek refuge while a heat wave strikes southwest China

Temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) overwhelmed Chongqing. In addition, metropolis in the southwest of China famous for its spicy fondue restaurants and its urban landscape with a Cyberpunk look. Consequently, Faced with this growing heat, some residents compete in ingenuity to adapt.

“It is getting warmer,” says Liu Fen gypsy, 60, resident of the city.

While temperatures skyrocketed Thursday afternoon. For example, Liu found refuge against the heat wave by playing cards and sharing inside with friends, among a hundred retirees gathered in the air conditioning of the entrance to a metro station.

“Aside from coming here, there is really no other way to escape heat. However, Last night, even with the air conditioning set to 17 degrees, it was still hot and the temperature did not drop. »»

The record heat that rages throughout China puts the country’s inhabitants chongqing seek refuge while electrical network to the test. while demand reaches historical heights, now exceeding 1.5 billion kilowatts. Records broken four times just in July.

After a week of daily peaks greater than 40 ° C, Chongqing noted its heat wave alert on Thursday: red. Twenty-one of its 38 districts should reach up to 43 ° C, with a peak planned at 44 ° C on Sunday.

Historically. in this city of nearly 32 million inhabitants, temperatures rarely exceed 39 ° C in July, which is already very high on a global scale.

Since the beginning of May. the number of days that the temperature has exceeded 35 ° C this year has been twice the historic average.

But some chongqingais remain impassive – for the moment.

XIe, 79, is one of the ten swimmers who gathered Thursday evening on a tributary of the Yangtsé. To cool off, he swims regularly in the inhabitants chongqing seek refuge while longest river in China.

“Chongqing has always been a furnace city. but we have the river to refresh ourselves,” he says before diving in underwear from a two meters high bank.

The same evening. Qiu Xianhui, 36, came with friends to taste a spicy fondue-the local specialty-in a restaurant installed in one of the old anti-bomb shelters in the city, where air remains naturally fresh.

“We are locals, so we are used to temperatures that exceed 40 degrees. We have seen everything, ”he says.

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