#3 Keeping the house below 20°C

For Chinese people with access to centrally heated homes, the thermostat is guaranteed to never rise above 20°C. Some may attribute this to being environmentally friendly and applaud such behaviour. In reality, this activity has been ongoing for years before An Inconvenient Truth was released and brings to light a different motivation. The reason? Being cheap (to be discussed in a later post).

The pride obtained from being frugal for a Chinese person is immense. As a wise man once said, "You save 50 cents here, you save 50 cents there, you have one dollar!". It is with this mentality that the thermostat will maintain a steady 19°C or even dip to the inhumane low of 18°C. Even if the outdoor temperature heads towards negative double-digit numbers, Chinese people remain steadfast in keeping the thermostat sub 20°C

However, with any ideological struggle, there will always be critics and victims. In this case, they are one and the same. Much to the chagrin of Chinese children, there isn't much they can do to raise the temperature. There have been documented tales of extensive campaigns for temperature change or even heroic acts of changing the thermostat, but they have all ultimately failed.

In an attempt to placate their offspring, parents typically offer the following steps of ways to get/stay warm:

1. Put on a sweater
2. Put on a jacket/coat
3. Put on an extra pair of socks
4. Put on some slippers
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until the optimal body temperature is reached

It is completely possible to see a Chinese person wearing 2 sweaters and a jacket in their own home.

In addition to these steps, there is only one other option: the fireplace. While this is a plausible option in non-Chinese households, it is implausible in a Chinese home. This is because the fireplace in a Chinese home is strictly for decoration. The fire logs beside the fireplace? Decorative. The tools by the logs? Decorative. This is especially surprising as Chinese people have a tendency to be very traditional and like to "do it up old school" as their ancestors once did.

As a tip for non-Chinese braving the bitter cold of a Chinese home, complaining about the temperature is a great sign of disrespect and should be avoided at all costs. Instead, this should be viewed as an opportunity to gain favour with your hosts. Agreeing with the position of frugality over warmth will guarantee a future invitation back. To cement your friendship and indefinite future invitations, a request for Chinese tea is also highly recommended.