Hello Summer!!

Every single person I had spoken to about Shanghai, every book I had read about Shanghai, mentioned the horrible summer that exists here. So I got scared. I got really really scared. I don't mind the heat but the humidity gives me a rare type of intensely itchy eczema that doesn't go away until it starts to become cooler and and drier pretty much (probably September at least - aaarrghh!).

Anyway, I had been marvelling to myself at how lucky I was that the whole time we had been here (from May 6th) the weather had been really nice. Sure there were some hotter days but overall, it was comfortable and especially in the late afternoons and evenings it was nice and breezy and cool almost - down to the low 20s or high teens. I even had to wear a long sleeve fleecy jacket at night! It was so breezy and cool.

Well I guess all my friends and books were right. Summer just hits you in the face here in Shanghai. One minute it is nice (all of May and around half of June) say the guidebooks, but then it's humidity city.

HOT. HUMID. WET. RAINY. That is what summer is like in Shanghai!

The week started to get hotter and hotter starting from Monday and today was the hottest it had been. Yesterday was pretty hot too but nothing like today. Today was the first day I had to use the air-conditioning since we moved into our flat. I tried to tolerate the heat but it was just unbearable, plus my poor computer couldn't cope either.

Earlier it was reported to be around 34degrees on a site, but I went to Yahoo and it said 32deg, 70% humidity, feels like 40deg. I thought - Wow, I'm not imagining it. Even Yahoo tells me it feels like 40deg!!

At around 7pm there were some massive thunderstorms complete with lightning. Since we are so high up, it felt like the lightning was right outside our window! Incredible (and scary).

Now, at 9pm, according to both Yahoo Weather and Shanghai Daily it is 26deg, 89% humidity, feels like 29deg.

I suppose there is no point hoping and wishing it would cool down. This is Asia afterall, and this is summer!

I suppose I should be thankful, though, I am not in Taiwan, Hong Kong or southern China where it would already be this hot in April or May.

The funny thing is, everyone back home in Sydney had been complaining about how cold it has been there. Down to 6 degrees some nights. Brrr...