China's Winter of Discontent
Mao-Era Policy Provides Heat
Up North but None in South;
Shivering Citizens Are Fed Up
WUHAN, China -- As a winter wind howled through this central Chinese city, university lecturer Li Qiao settled down in his two-bedroom apartment for what should have been a cozy evening of reading. Around his apartment were signs of China's new prosperity: a color television, refrigerator, washing machine and air conditioner. The only thing missing: heating.
Even though winter temperatures in Wuhan dip into the 30s with occasional snow, virtually none of the city's homes are heated. "The cold is cutting into my bones," lamented Mr. Li, who was bundled up in a down coat and a quilt, with an electric heater blowing warm air toward him. "Why doesn't Wuhan have heating?"
University lecturer Li Qiao bundles up with a blanket and an electric heater to stay warm in his unheated apartment in Wuhan, a city in central China.
Mr. Li isn't the only one asking. Heating systems are one of the last areas that remain under China's former centrally planned economy, with government regulators still setting the thermostat for homes, classrooms and offices across the country. Under the policy, which dates back to Mao Zedong in the 1950s, the government provides heat in the northern half of China, and, to save money, it provides no heat in the southern half. As a result, northerners often wilt in steaming apartments, while those in southern provinces shiver through the winter.
With no heat, even residents of modern cities like Shanghai spend much of the winter trying to get warm. Many Shanghai stores prominently display racks of long wool underwear instead of trendy clothes. Developers who are now permitted to privately provide heat to new apartments and homes -- by using gas boilers that pipe hot water to radiators installed in the new units -- use it as a major selling point. (Still, many new units only have what amounts to large space heaters.)
In Beijing and other northern cities, meanwhile, overheated residents are getting ready to shiver until spring because the heat is scheduled to turn off tomorrow. In cities even farther north, heating may stay on for another two months. Heating is provided starting Nov. 15 and is set at between 60.8 and 68 degrees Fahrenheit. So, even as residents sometimes freeze in their homes in October, they often throw the windows open to cool things down by March. Yet this month has been colder than usual -- it snowed in Beijing last weekend. Most of the heat is provided by government-owned central heating stations or boilers, and heating suppliers are owned by the government, too.
Now, a growing number of Chinese are challenging the status quo. Newspapers are filled with letters from cold and disgruntled citizens. Authors and other intellectuals have attacked the heating policy for contributing to an unfair distribution of social resources. (In both northern and southern China, many hotels and residential complexes for foreigners and certain government and office buildings are exempt from the policy and have their own heating systems.)
Wealthier local governments are responding by investing in their own heating systems. In Hangzhou and Ningbo on the eastern coast, local authorities are turning existing coal-fired power plants into thermal electricity cogeneration -- using hot water that is a byproduct of a handful of electric power plants located in downtown areas -- to heat residential complexes.
The public outcry shows how private homeownership and the rise of a middle class are awakening a growing social activism in China -- and sometimes getting results. But the hoopla over heating also underscores the challenges China faces as it tries to meet surging energy demands to service its booming economy.
Last year, two-thirds of China's 31 provinces experienced brownouts due to electricity shortages. Efforts by southern provinces to construct their own heating systems would likely further strain China's energy supply, experts say. Indeed, these experts say China currently doesn't even have enough energy supplies to heat the whole country.
Under the existing system, most northerners pay almost nothing for heat; the central and local government cover the costs. But in two years, all northern residents will pay for their heat but still receive a subsidy from local governments. In the unheated south, the government is encouraging private and foreign companies to construct gas or coal-fired heating plants and pipelines. Residents there pay for heat as well, and they may receive a subsidy from wealthier local governments.
Real-estate developers in the south are tapping into the demand for heated homes and the government's approval to build private heating systems. Yuan Yujiang, a manager with Wuhan Weipeng Real Estate Co., says his company was the first in Wuhan to sell apartments with centralized heating, generated by a privately owned gas boiler located on site. Buyers snapped up all 410 units, he says. "Heating is a very attractive, if not the decisive, selling point," says Mr. Yuan.
Meanwhile, the city of Wuhan is taking the situation into its own hands. Li Hanzhang, head of the energy conservancy office of the city's construction commission, says the city is overhauling three existing power plants so the hot water byproduct can be used to heat residential and office buildings. City regulations taking effect this year require new housing to use construction materials that conserve heat in preparation for rolling out a citywide heating system. City planners have suggested building natural-gas plants to supply heat to the city by 2020.
In Ningbo, coal-fired plants are turned into thermal electricity to heat homes.
While wealthy Wuhan residents have bought homes or apartments with heating units, some government officials are able to stay warm as well because they live in housing complexes that are provided with heat. Wu Renmin, a 64-year-old retired scientist with a research institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, says his ears used to suffer from chronic frostbite during the winter. Then, in the mid-1980s, he moved into his current apartment, which taps into the institute's heating system that maintains a constant temperature for sensitive technical equipment. "We're benefiting from association with these machines," Mr. Wu jokes.
Mr. Li, the university teacher, and his wife ward off the cold air that seeps into their apartment at the university with an electrical heater, a hot-air fan and a wall unit air-conditioner that also blows out heat. At night, they wriggle into long underwear before piling under two sets of thick quilts. Although he has a three-hour lunch break, Mr. Li seldom goes back to his apartment, opting instead to hole up in his heated office.
His students aren't so lucky. Classrooms aren't heated, so they listen to his lectures swathed in down jackets, caps and gloves. Some students even carry hot-water bottles to keep their hands warm and cushions to place on the icy chairs.
Having decided to stay in Wuhan, Mr. Li recently bought a three-bedroom apartment in the city, and plans renovations this summer. He has allocated space for four heating wall units, one for each bedroom and another for the living room. Nevertheless, he's keeping his electrical heater. "I have to bring it with me," he says. "Otherwise, how could I read at night?"
中国供暖仍停留在计划经济体制中
凛冽的寒风在华中的武汉市咆哮著，大学讲师李樵蜷缩在他的两居室住房中，而这本应是一个适合读书、温馨舒适的夜晚。室内摆放著中国典型的几大件：彩电、冰箱、洗衣机和空调。唯一缺乏的是：暖气。
尽管武汉的冬季气温可下降到零度左右，有时还会下雪，但这个城市中几乎没有一个家庭通暖气。李樵穿著羽绒服，身上蒙著被子，还在面前开了一个电暖气，他抱怨说，如此寒气刺骨的天气，武汉为什么不供暖呢？
不是李樵一个人有这个疑问。供暖是中国仍实行以前计划经济体制的为数不多的几个领域之一，政府部门仍为中国的许多家庭、学校和办公楼提供冬季取暖。根据这个从上世纪50年代起实施的政策，政府向中国的北方供暖，而为了节约资金，不向中国的南方供暖。因此，北方人常常在热气腾腾的房间中昏昏欲睡，而南方人却在冬季的寒风中瑟瑟发抖。
由于没有暖气，即使是上海这样的现代化都市中的居民在冬季的大部分时间里也要想方设法地取暖。许多上海的商店都在显眼的位置摆放著各种各样的保暖内衣，而不是时尚的服装。获准用燃气锅炉向新建房屋供暖的开发商都将这作为一个主要的卖点。（当然，很多新楼盘只是在使用大型的取暖炉供暖。）
与此同时，在北京和其它北方城市，从3月15日开始将停止供暖，因此一直感到温度过高的居民已经做好了在春季受冻的准备。在更靠北的城市，可能还会再供暖两个月。供暖是从每年的11月15日开始，温度设定在摄氏16度和20度之间。因此，即使有时居民在10月份就感到非常寒冷，但在3月份时却可能常常要打开窗户，给室内降温。不过这个月比往常要冷，周末的时候北京还下了一场小雪。供暖主要是由政府所有的中央供暖站或锅炉提供，供暖公司也由政府所有。
现在，越来越多的中国人对这种现状提出了质疑。报刊上经常可以看到人们对供暖表示不满的来信。写信者和其他知识分子一直在抨击导致社会资源分配不公的供暖政策。（无论在中国北方还是南方，都有不少涉外宾馆和住宅楼以及一些政府机关和写字楼不受该政策的约束，拥有自己的供暖系统。）
为了解决这个问题，富裕地区的地方政府纷纷投资兴建自己的供暖系统。例如，杭州和宁波市政府把现有的火力发电站改造成了热电联产设施，利用市区发电厂产生的副产品──热水为民用住宅供暖。
从公众的呐喊声中可以看出房屋产权私有化和中产阶级的兴起正在如何唤起声势越发浩大的社会活动，而且，这种呼声有时是可以收到一定成效的。但围绕供暖的喧嚣也凸现出中国在竭力满足能源需求的激增以支撑经济的高速增长时所面临的挑战。
去年，中国31个省份中有三分之二的地区因为电力供应短缺而出现了拉闸限电的现象。专家们表示，南方省份建设自己的供暖系统可能进一步加剧中国能源供应的短缺局面。实际上，这些专家们表示，中国目前拥有的能源供应尚不足以为全国供暖。
在现行体制下，大多数北方居民都无须缴纳取暖费，由中央或地方政府支付这笔费用。但2年之后，所有的北方居民都要缴纳取暖费，但地方政府会为此提供补贴。在没有供暖系统的南方，地方政府正在鼓励私营或外资企业建设天然气或煤炭发电厂以及铺设热力管道。南方居民也需缴纳取暖费，不过，一些富裕的地方政府可能会提供取暖补贴。
南方的地产开发商从对可供暖住宅的需求以及政府批准建设私营供暖系统中觅得了商机。武汉伟鹏房地产公司的经理袁玉江(音)表示，他的公司在武汉率先推出了提供中央供暖的楼盘，暖气来自于一台私人所有的天然气锅炉。他表示，全部410套房子一下子被抢购一空。他表示，供暖功能即使不是最关键的、也是一个非常具有吸引力的卖点。
与此同时，武汉市政府也全力支持。武汉市建设局节能办主任李汉章表示，武汉市准备把现有的三座发电厂进行改造，产生的热水就可以为民用住宅和商业写字楼供暖。今年生效的城市规划要求新建住宅采用保温材料，为在全市建设供暖系统作好准备。城市规划部门还表示，将在2020年前建造利用天然气供暖的设施。
富裕的武汉市民可以购买带有供暖设施的住房，除此之外，一些政府官员也可以享受居室内的温暖，因为他们居住在配有供暖设施的住宅中。例如，现年64岁、中国科学院(Chinese Academy of Sciences)下属一家研究所的退休科学家吴仁民表示，冬天长期的寒冷环境曾经冻伤了他的耳朵，每到冬天都会发作。80年代中期的时候，他搬进了现在的住宅，这家研究所拥有的一套为敏感科技设备保持恒温的供暖设施也在为他所在的住宅楼供暖。吴仁民开玩笑说，他们是沾了这些机器的光。
为了抵御钻进来的寒风，李樵和妻子在屋里放了一个电热取暖器、吹热风的风扇和一个壁挂空调。晚上，他们穿上长长的睡衣，然后盖上两层厚被子。尽管中午有3个小时的午休时间，但李樵很少回自己的家，而是待在有暖气的办公室里面。
他的学生们就没那么幸运了。教室里面没有暖气，他们只能穿著皮夹克、带著帽子和手套上课。甚至有一些学生用热水瓶来捂手取暖，并用靠垫垫在冰冷的座椅上。
决定留在武汉的李樵最近刚刚买了一套三居室，准备在夏天装修房子。他计划在房子里装4部壁挂式空调，三个卧室各安装一部，在客厅里再装一个。但他决定仍然保留他的电热取暖器。他说，我得带上它，没有它晚上看书的时候可怎么熬呀？
