How to beat the heat in a sweltering capital city
Things often come earlier in China. Like writing, gunpowder, paper and seasons. Fall begins on Sept 21 in the northern hemisphere, but the country's Mid-Autumn Festival falls just over a week in this year, on Sept 29.And spring, which officially gets underway on March 21 north of the equator, kicked off nearly two months earlier this year, on Jan 22. So this list of ways to beat the summer heat in the muggy months of June, July and August may seem a bit late if using the local timeline. However, at the time of this piece's composition, the official start to summer has just begun. So consider this a "just in time" Top 3 list of strategies to keep cool during the hot season.
Cool fruity beverages are the first sanctuary from the searing summer sun. Fruit is very high in water content. In fact, the Chinese word for fruit is shuiguo, or literally "water fruit". Yes, admittedly a bit redundant, but it works for our purposes here. The key is that water is, naturally, the best human hydrator. And it's what it isn't that makes it the ideal chemical compound to lower or maintain a healthy body temperature during midday scorchers. It isn't caffeine or alcohol, both notorious diuretics.
Some of the best fruit juice and smoothie stands can be found surrounding the campuses of the capital's many universities. Even when many college students return to their hometowns for summer break, enterprising paring, peeling and papaya pulverizing staff face the photons head-on near campuses to bring you an ice-cold, refreshing, nutritious mango, berry, watermelon, or fill-in-your-fave-fruit beverage within a few whirs of a blender. Yes, it's stifling hot at times sitting at streetside food stalls in Beijing. But the on-demand juice, shake or smoothie will quickly make you forget the heat. If you're in an air-conditioned fruit juice shop, you're surely overpaying and depriving yourself of the pleasure of watching street life saunter by.
Hot foods can cool you down. Come again? Chinese chilies as well as cayenne, jalapeno and habanero peppers derive their firepower from a compound known as capsaicin, which often causes tongue numbing and increased perspiration. And sweating, or glowing as some call it, does help moderate body temperatures. That's why cacophonous, crowded Beijing streetside barbecue joints are some of the most popular nightspots in the hot months. Of course, bringing sensations back to lips and tongues is often accomplished with generous quantities of ice-cold beer, which does tend to have dehydrating effects, so the beer and BBQ combo might level each other out, with the tiebreaker going to the amazing social benefits of sharing food and drink on a hot summer night with friends and strangers alike.
Lastly, this involves something everyone should do at least once a summer in Beijing. That is, rent a big electric boat seating 2/4/6 or more, maybe even hire a pipa or erhu strummer, and buzz the summer night away under the stars at Houhai, one of three connected lakes just north of the Forbidden City. It's a reasonably affordable and unforgettable way to enjoy Beijing's nightlife in the heart of the city without getting jostled on a crowded dance floor.
Ever wonder why the spiciest foods tend to come from hot-weather cultures? It's not simply perverse: Spicy foods make you sweat, which actually cools you off.
