【Forward】The Summer in Wuhan Chi Li

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The heat in Wuhan during summer is apparently well-known to everyone. How hot is it exactly? How hot is it? How uncomfortable is it due to the heat? Wuhan natives don’t express things as vividly as people from other places. The renowned economist Mr. Yu Guangyuan asked me: Is it hot in Wuhan during the summer? I replied: Hot. Mr. Yu Guangyuan asked: How hot is it? I replied: 42 degrees Celsius of high temperature for several weeks in a row. Mr. Yu Guangyuan shook his head with a smile and recounted an old story: In the summer of 1956, Mr. Yu Guangyuan was invited to give a lecture in Wuhan. In the three towns of Wuhan, Wuchang is a bit cooler; it has the large East Lake, as well as dozens of colleges and universities, all of whose campuses are landscaped. Therefore, Wuchang is cooler than Hankou and Hanyang. The report is scheduled to be given in Wuchang. At that time, large auditoriums generally did not have air conditioning, and there were few fans as well; the air they produced was still hot, so presentations were held outdoors. When it was time to give the presentation, Mr. Yu Guangyuan saw that it was at the swimming pool in East Lake. Mr. Yu Guangyuan sat by the edge of the swimming pool while speaking, with a large crowd of listeners standing in the pool. The listeners were fine, but only Mr. Yu Guangyuan got overheated. Mr. Yu Guangyuan has traveled all over the world; now in his eighties, the hottest temperature he has experienced is the one in Wuhan. Another friend, from the north, was unfortunately assigned to Wuhan on business during the hot summer. Before leaving, worried about the heat in Wuhan, I asked locals where it would be cooler to stay there Someone told him that if he couldn’t afford to stay in a hotel on business trips, it would be better to stay at an inn by the Yangtze River, as it’s always cooler there. When a friend came to Wuhan, he indeed found an inn by the Yangtze River to stay at. At night, it’s hot and humid; barely has one lay down before a mark appears on the grass, left by sweat. The fan was turned on, and the hot air scorched my face; I had no choice but to turn it off. I tossed and turned all night, in extreme pain. The next evening, extremely tired, the friend went to the banks of the Yangtze River. He saw that the area was full of people enjoying the cool breeze, so he tried to sit there as well. But it didn’t work – it was still unbearably hot, and there were mosquitoes biting him as well. With no other choice, a friend came up with an idea in a moment of desperation: sleep in the Yangtze River. A friend brought a piece of rope, attached it to his own belt, tied one end to an anchor on the riverbank and the other end around his neck; then he sat in the water, keeping his nostrils above the surface to breathe, so that he could doze off in a drowsy state. After daybreak, my friend fled north in a hurry, regardless of anything. From then on, whenever the summer in Wuhan was mentioned, it was like talking about a tiger – people would inevitably turn pale at the thought. In this lifetime, under no circumstances will he ever come to Wuhan in the summer.