Storm of the (half-)century

China is currently experiencing the worst winter storm in 50 years. This means that the generally mild weather here has turned decidedly cold. And rainy. And miserable. I suppose that I should feel grateful that we're not buried under piles of snow like other parts of the country, but mainly I'm just pissed that our apartment has tile floors and doesn't have any heat (it does have AC units, just no heater).

Two consequences have resulted from this situation:

First, I broke down and bought myself a pair of thermal underwear (men's XL, of course, since that's the size I wear here) and have resigned myself to wearing the thermals, my summer robe, two pairs of socks, a blanket (as an insulating skirt), and my totally rad Steelers sweatshirt in the house. It's so cold in here that we can see our breath. I don't have gloves, but I wish I did. Typing has been kind of difficult.

Second, we've had to modify our laundry drying routine. Usually we just hang it on the balcony. But since it's cold and rainy and humid, that doesn't work. The laundry just stays wet and starts to get kind of funky. Instead, we've rigged up mini clothes lines throughout the apartment. It's been difficult to find things to anchor the line to since we don't have much furniture and the construction of the apartment is rather crappy (e.g., tape will pull the paint and plaster off the walls). But we're managing. Here (see photo), we've used the front door and our shoe closet to anchor a line for drying some socks. I think they look kind of cheery -- it feels like we're camping. (Before you ask, no, there aren't any laundro-mats around here, which means there are no dryers).

At least we're not traveling anywhere over the (Chinese) New Year holiday. News reports from all over the world paint a pretty bleak picture.