Freezing southerners casting envious eyes on warm north

IN ravaging cold, while Chinese people living in northern cities are enjoying indoor warmth, southerners wonder how long they have to wait before the government decides to install a public heating network.

The problem is they are trapped by a line drawn by the late Premier Zhou Enlai six decades ago.

The line, between 32 and 34 degrees north, almost along the Huaihe River and Qinling Mountains, not only defines China's northern and southern parts, but also determines different winters for its people.

Cities to the north of the line have public heating which circulates hot water generated by government heating stations through pipelines and radiators inside almost every resident's building and public facility.

However, people living in cities south of the line, which includes Shanghai, have to use various heating devices to warm their homes.

Northerner Dai Tongtong, a student in Wuhan City, said the cold mixed with moisture in the south affected her no matter how thick her clothes were.

To get away from the cold of the dormitories, she and her fellow students cram into libraries and public reading rooms to share warmth generated by air conditioning units.

In an opinion poll conducted by www.qq.com, 88 percent of 104,618 participants voted for a collective public heating network in the south.

Some local governments in the south have started to build trial heating networks in urban communities, while national legislators and political advisers still endeavor to persuade the central government in giving local governments the option to build public heating networks in all urban areas.

Zhang Xiaomei, a member of China's top political advisory body, said pushing the line southward would not only warm the public, but also expand domestic demand and increase employment.

Zhang added it is also "a solution for energy conservation and emission reduction," on which industry insiders and experts have yet to reach a consensus.