Make sure to buy your air conditioner a beer for saving your life: "Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention said today that local hospitals have received 47 heatstroke patients this summer and two of them died. Shanghai introduced a heatstroke reporting system this year, requiring hospitals to give an immediate report after receiving patients with heatstroke. There was no heatstroke data before. A 31-year-old schoolmaster who came to Shanghai for training died on June 23 when the temperature reached 35 degrees Celsius. A 41-year-old migrant worker at a local construction site died last Thursday when the mercury hit 37 degrees." [Shanghai Daily] more ›

As stipulated by the Shanghai government, employers must now pay their sweaty, toiling laborers a monthly subsidy of 200RMB when requiring them to work outside in temperatures over 35 degrees Celsius, or inside in temperatures over 33 degrees. It's all part of a big push to protect workers from the heat and reduce incidences of heatstroke. Sounds like a good policy. Only problem is, the workers will probably never know about it. more ›

As if the 38C all-around Shanghai temperature mark wasn't high enough, apparently it's actually much, much hotter than that. Thanks to the heat island effect of all that concrete, temperatures at areas like the Bund (or heck, probably right outside your apartment) are really registering at around 45C (113F!!)! So for those of you unfortunate enough to walk around in areas with little shade this week, remember to always bring water with you and watch out for heatstroke. more ›

Oooh nooooooo. You thought yesterday and today were hot? Looks like this crappy, terrible, face melting weather is going to stay with us for another five days. The Shanghai Meterological Bureau said that we could expect the same heat, thunder and rain through the weekend and into Monday of next week. Ugh. Well, there's not much we can do except take cold showers, remember to keep hydrated, stay indoors as much as possible and hope that the Shanghai Meterological Bureau is as on point this time as it was about Typhoon Morakot's imminent arrival. Source: Shanghai Daily more ›