I lived with my grandma during my childhood in an old community in the former Xuanwu district. When I was a kid we used to buy hundreds of coal briquettes to heat the room in the winter. In addition to the inconvenience of carrying those briquettes in the freezing winter, the rooms were sometimes choked with smoke when we lit the stove.

In 2010, the government replaced the traditional coal-burning stoves with electric radiators in the community where grandma has spent most of her life. We also receive a special price for electricity - half price in the morning. This makes the cost of heating in the winter even less.

Liang Wenchao, 30, a Beijing resident who works in the media industry