Well, that's different #2: Thermal efficiancy

Here in Baiyin, as in most cities in China, heating is controlled centrally. You don't turn the heating on in your apartment when you get cold or off when you get warm: it's done centrally. Heating comes on and goes off on set dates in the year automatiucally for the whole city.

You might think this is efficient. It isn't. At the moment the weather is hot: T-shirt and sunscreen hot. The heating isn't due to go off for another month so my apartment, like everybody else's, is like a sauna. All around the city everyone has their windows open trying to let out some of the heat when, if only we had some control, it would be better to turn the heater off.

I'd love to see a satellite thermal image of the city.

So much for global warming and carbon footprints.