Life and Leisure

Cool products help make hot summer more bearable

By Lu Chang (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-04 16:21

These small electric fans are among the most sought-after products in China as the country suffers a prolonged heat wave.  Zhang Liwei/ China news service

BEIJING - For Zhang Nan, a 25-year-old working outdoors in the city's summer heat, where temperatures have lingered around the 35 C mark over the past few days, a gadget called the "magic water cool scarf" has been a lifesaver.

"Like its name, it is magic," Zhang said. "The scarf is made of a special material which can absorb water, just like a sponge.

"After you soak it in the water for a while, the scarf will provide cooling for more than eight hours.

"But the best part is that you can walk around, wearing it without worrying that the scarf will affect your clothes."

The scarf is just one way of keeping cool in Beijing's summer, which recorded the highest temperatures for the first 10 days in July in 50 years. Figures from China's National Meteorological Center shows that temperatures in other large cities were even higher.

This has given taobao.com, China's largest online shopping website, a huge jump in searches for cooling products.

Taobao statistics show that sales of cooling products last month increased by 31 percent over June, with transactions for sunglasses reaching 70 million yuan ($10.3 million).

Li Hua, a saleswoman from the online shop Shaohua, said her best seller last month was cooling stockings. The stockings do not stick to the skin and keeps the wearer cool via micro slits on the surfaces.

"Our business has never been better. More than 100 pairs were sold in a month," Li said. "It is very popular among office ladies, because it costs even less than a normal pair of stockings but can keep the skin cool at the same time."

Besides the stockings, portable electric fans have also been popular.

"Usually this small electric fan needs only one or two batteries," said the owner of an online shop Siligo, who only gave her online moniker as Xinxin. "You can hang it around your neck and hold it in your hands, keeping the air to 30 C.

"We have also a USB fan that can be connected to computers."

For many, the hot summer nights can prove restless, but a cooling pillow is another unusual product to solve that problem.

"The pillow costs only 20 yuan but can be used for five years," said the owner of another online shop Meimei. "It will keep cool for eight hours and when it gets too warm, you can put it in a refrigerator for 10 minutes."

However, Bing Zhongxing, a doctor at Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, said people should cool themselves off properly.

"I think it is okay to use these cooling products in the summer," Bing said.

"But it is not good to our health if we use these iced-cold gadgets most of day.

"People also tend to have beer, cold drinks and ice-cream from the fridge in summer, which will easily dehydrate the body and bring problems to the stomach."

China Daily