Bbbbrrrrrr........

This always seems to happen in Beijing.

It is as if Dame Nature loves to thumb her nose at our Communist government and its nationally imposed timetable for the provision of winter central-heating.

In November, just around the time all our heaters come on, after enduring a mostly arse-freezing October, we invariably get a late-season burst of warmish weather again - making our first week or so of central-heating uncomfortably balmy indoors.

The even less welcome corollary is that when in mid-March the heating goes off again, our always somewhat half-hearted and tentative Spring weather abruptly disappears for a while. The 'magic date' for cutting the heat is supposed to be March 15th (the official commencement date being November 15th), although there is some local variation of a day or two; and it generally takes at least a few days for the water to drain from the system in a large building like mine, and the pipes retain a vestige of heat for a while. Then, around the 18th or the 20th, we get our arses frozen for a spell again.

Since Sunday evening, the temperature has dropped by 10 or 15 degrees Fahrenheit, with the nighttime lows down around freezing again for the first time in three weeks, and the daytime highs barely limping into the 50s (and nippy windchill, to boot). On Friday, we are predicted to suffer a nighttime low well below freezing - the blossoming trees aren't going to like that.

A week ago, I was struggling to sleep because I was too warm at night, considering retiring my duvet for the next 6 months. The last few days, I have been forced to wear a sweatshirt at night for extra warmth, and to pad around in tracksuit bottoms during the day.

I know, I shouldn't really complain. Everything from just north of the Yangtze on downwards gets no central-heating at all. And those guys got snow this year!