Me and Air Conditioning
I was relating some of my plight with air conditioners the other day to my sister, and she recognized how they have been a bane to my travel woes over the years.Many of you may have heard my story about my visiting Saudi Arabia in the early ‘80s. I was being toured around Riyadh by an Englishman who was the Managing Director for a royal sheik. We were in a very nice Mercedes Benz. Only it was incredibly hot. Temperatures were easily cresting 100° F daily. And the car was like an oven. I asked the English Director what was wrong with the air conditioner, and he explained that they could not get it to cool. When he abandoned the car to enter a building, as I sat there waiting in the car, I couldn’t take it anymore and started studying the controls from my rear seat. I easily spied a concern, and motioned the guard and driver in the front seat to “slide the bar control to the blue”. Instant cool air! I was a savior. The driver and guard started praising me as if I was Allah reincarnated. They were sure ready to sacrifice a lamb or first born for me.
Well, the opposite of that is happening here. As much as the Chinese are incredibly conscientious about energy, they have some odd ways about it. In the heat of the year (which is almost always) air conditioners are shut off as soon as possible. Conference rooms and dining rooms do not get A/C until the very last minute. And then they crank the thermostat down and fan up to the point of where they can freeze a penguin. You walk in a room, and the cool air is blasting. As soon as the last person moves out they turn it off, even though another group may be in to the room again in a few minutes!??!
Now, it’s December and it’s cold. As I’ve mentioned before, there is practically no heat in any buildings. Everyone seems content to just wear jackets all day long. I find myself visiting the finishing line regularly to walk through an oven to warm up. It’s the only place I can find heat!
You would think when I get in a I could warm up. No, no such luck! The drivers are adamant about continuing to operate with the A/C on, even though it’s below 50° C. I hop in a van, and immediately demand they turn off the air. No, they just mumble something and wave their hands with something like “the car won’t run without the air conditioner” … or something I sure is the equal in Mandarin. They may turn down the control (from that infamous blue area), or they will give me access to the controls in the rear. So often I’ve got heat blasting from the back seat vents, while they have cool air blasting from the front vents. Go figure!?? I gotta get back to the finishing room oven.
posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 5:47 PM
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