Temperature

Wuhan has two set temperatures: freezer and oven. Occasionally we might enjoy a mild respite from these extremes, but there is pretty much where the thermostat is stuck. I'm used to bundling up in the winter and shedding as much as possible in the summer. If need be, I have a space heater for winter and air conditioning for summer in my home. Everywhere else I might venture, there might not be climate control.

Just about everywhere in America is temperature controlled: houses, cars, stores, offices. It gets as hot in Texas as it does in Wuhan but it never really bothered me because I went from my air conditioned house to my air conditioned car, drove to my air conditioned office and, after work, went shopping in air conditioned stores. After living in natural temperature cycles since I've been here, it is difficult for me to to adjust to regulated temperatures stateside.

People have fun at a water park in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province, June 8, 2014. [Photo/CFP]