May 7, 2007
At B&Q, 30 is the magic number
Shanghai Daily predicts an "early summer" for Shanghai, with temperatures hitting 30 degrees Celsius today. The Shanghaiist Weather Center, however, says today's high will only reach 27 (our current temperature) and that temperatures will remain in the 20s throughout the week, maxing out at 29 on Wednesday. Not that 29 is exactly chilly — for all you Americans out there, that means 84 degrees Fahrenheit.
Why are we talking about the weather? Well, while shopping for patio furniture and a grill over the weekend at B&Q (per Wang Jian Shuo's suggestion), we noticed that it was a bit hot inside the home improvement store (similar to a Home Depot or Lowe's). We asked a worker if the air conditioning was broken. They said, "No." Hmmmm. OK. Later, we asked another employee, who agreed it was uncomfortable inside the store. What's wrong with the air conditioning? "It's not turned on," was his answer. "We don't turn it on until the outside temperature reaches 30." Wow. (That is 86 degrees for you Americans.)
Those of us who used to write for a trade magazine called Home Improvement Market (it was one of our first jobs out of college) call stores the size of B&Q "big boxes." And it doesn't have to get too hot outside for them to turn into big ovens. We wonder if they fight over who gets to work in the fan department. We're not sure if this is a chain-wide policy — we went to the Baoshan location — and we doubt this is a scenario unique to B&Q (百安居). In fact, Shanghai blogger John Biesnecker had a similar hot and humid shopping experience at Shanghai's Best Buy (that's not the only thing that has John dissing the American retailer ... read his post).
Anyway, given their less-than-perfect working environment, we have always found B&Q employees to be very friendly and helpful (not to mention plentiful), and if you are looking for patio furniture and a grill, they have both. Let us suggest, however, that you look elsewhere for your charcoal. The Chinese stuff we bought just didn't want to light, even after being doused with nearly an entire can of lighter fluid. Spend the extra money (it's actually not that much more if you do the math) and get Kingsford charcoal from City Shop. Your life, and your burgers, will be much better. (That said, if anyone knows of an easy-to-light local charcoal that is good for grilling and cheap, please let us know.)
|
If the Chinese want to have Western style big box stores, they must learn to consume more energy keeping them cool in early May. Like Al Gore said, "The earth is getting warmer, somebody please switch on the A/C!".
I've used local charcoal in Shanghai without a problem.
I took a tip from the master Alton Brown (of Food Network fame) and use crumpled up paper with some drippings of cooking oil on them. The oil allows the paper to burn for quite a bit longer (as the oil has to burn first) which was just the trick.
I also found that a bicycle tire pump was quite effective at blowing some air on the fire for good measure.
Dan, may I recommend you invest in a fan? A simple, black fan, sans frou-frou can be quite masculine. And good for the environment too :P
A/C and heating is one of those mysteries that Chinese seem to have a problem understanding. Others include: The clothes drier that needs a ventilation duct leading the hot and humid air outside; for the toilet fan to operate it needs replacement air coming in through a vent in the door, NOT through the sewer system; to keep your apartment clean you don't keep the windows open all day; and in summer time you actually need to keep the A/C on all the time (but around +29C when not at home and with windows and curtains closed) to save energy. The walls and furniture store heat and take more than half a day to cool or warm up.
Heating and cooling take energy and China is energy deficient. Overall, the locals are just better at tolerance than we are...tolerating heat in Summer, cold in winter, long hours and bad bosses when necessary. the new generation of only children, especially here in Shanghai, though are probably as bad as we are in terms of wanting immediate gratification and will most certainly be using the AC and heat more often.
But yes, there are many concepts about climate control that the locals are just learning. Give it time. Better yet, teach when you feel like complaining since that actually can help the cause...though complaining does make me feel better ;) just not cooler...
speaking of which, my office is getting really hot...
That really was a fascinating piece Dan, well done - quite groundbreaking and clearly proof that blogging really is cutting edge. Who'd have thought it - B&Q, hot, shopping...it was all there! Now if only B&Q sold DIY sandwiches...