Gosh, is it really that time of year already? It seems it is. The temperature has been in a nosedive over the past few days, and on Sunday night it was getting down close to freezing.
Top Five Signs of the approach of winter in Beijing
5) I start taking a fleece out with me in the evenings.
(I'm a hardy soul, and will usually persevere in shirtsleeves until the temperature gets near to zero; but one has to be prepared.)
4) I start having to wear my fleece (at least when walking home, 'round midnight).
3) We have to close the door at 12 Square Metres.
2) We have to close the window at 12 Square Metres.
1) We have to turn on the heater at 12 Square Metres.
(Hmm - burning dust!!)
It seems El Nino & The Climate Changes (possible band name??) have a punishing gig schedule lined up for this year; it's predicted to be an exceptionally harsh winter across the northern hemisphere. If it's getting started in the middle of October, it certainly looks like it!
2 comments:
A sixth sign would be...
The Return of Mafan!
Yep, the lovable mongrel pup that JK and Limei adopted just before Christmas last year has been banished from the bar for the past six months or more, because she's too energetic and undisciplined (untrained, boss, the word is untrained) to be trusted not to run outside into the street when we leave the door and windows open during the warmer months.
But yesterday she was back, and as MAD as ever.
But much bigger. As I have always suspected, she is starting to show signs of having more wolfhound than terrier in her genealogy.
And, ah yes, another sign would be the sudden difficulty of getting cabs, even on a slow mid-week night. As soon as the weather starts getting a bit nippy, the extremely unhardy Chinese start taking a cab to go a couple of hundred yards down the road.
Even Beijing's generous over-supply of taxis can be stretched at times like this.
When it gets a bit colder still, everybody will stop going out altogether, and the cab situation will ease again.
Post a Comment