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Ah, ah, ah, ah! Stayin' Warm!

How to beat the Shanghai winter - By Meiling, Jan 10, 07

As the miserable Shanghai cold has recently crept up on us, we decided to share some tips on how to stay warm in this city.

Staying warm indoors

Seasoned Shanghai’ers can bear witness to the crappy insulation of most Shanghainese buildings. The concrete seems to act like a conductor of cold. Windows let the wind sneak in somehow. The heat from the air-conditioner seems to dissipate the second it is blown out. You need reinforcements.

Electric heating devices. Electric blankets, electric carpets, fan-heaters and radiators. These can all be found at major home appliance stores such as: Guo Mei, Suning and Yolo, and at large supermarkets such as Carrefour, Hymall and CenturyMart. My personal electric heating device of choice is the radiator. Heat seems to be retained in the room better compared to the air-conditioner, it remains hot for some time even after switched off and best of all, you can dry and heat your clothes on top of it. A typical air-conditioner consumes between 1000 – 1500 watts and a radiator between 1500 – 2000 watts. However, you can adjust the settings on your radiator so that it uses only 1000 watts, and still find it to provide more warmth than the a/c.

Little fan-heaters are great to stick underneath your desk in a less-than-warm office.

Non-electric things. Draw your curtains to keep some of the draft out. Wear wooly socks or slippers. Keep a throw or TV blanket on your sofa to snuggle under with your significant other, pet(s) or hot water bottle. Ikea has a variety of throws and blankets to choose from.

Sip on hot drinks or soup. A good choice is ginger tea as ginger has heating qualities. Simply crush ginger, add tea, honey and boiling water. Trust me, it works. Staying warm outdoors

Wear a hat. You lose 40 to 50% of your body heat through your head. You have tons of blood vessels up there and heat will leave your bloodstream unless you insulate your head. This means wearing a hat or a beanie. Besides good insulation, it’s also a great way to spice up an outfit or fix a bad hair day. Lids carries all sorts of headwear. For cheaper options, check out Qi Pu Lu.

Dress in layers. Several lighter layers provide more insulation and are much more adjustable than one heavy layer. Everyone has had the experience of bundling up to counter the cold only then to start sweating like a horse in the di tie. Your innermost layer should be the thinnest. This would be your long johns or thermals (if you wear any of these, that is). Since ‘tis the season to wear long johns, all major department stores around Shanghai have stocked up on them. I like to get thermals from Uniqlo, they’re affordable, comfortable and look decent. As for leg wear, I prefer to wear stockings underneath my jeans. No girl wants bulky-looking legs. Watson’s sells good, cheap, foot-less stockings and you can find all sorts at Qi Pu Lu. You’ll be surprised to see what a difference it makes in keeping you warm. Try to keep the inner layers tight-fitted, as less air in between means less cold. Top this with fleece, wool, cashmere, sweatshirt … the choice is yours. Your outermost layer should be the thickest and wind-resistant. As most of you already know, one of the best choices is a down feather jacket. For pricier brand-name jackets go to the major department stores, for bargain deals pay a visit to the market beneath the Science & Technology Museum metro station and for everything in between check out Uniqlo, Baleno, Hotwind, MetersBonwe or the little boutiques on Changle Lu.

Wrap those digits. Think thick socks and gloves, people. Shanghai streets are littered with street vendors selling bargain socks and gloves. When buying gloves make sure they are wind-resistant. Woolen gloves may be warm, but they do not give a lot of protection against icy winds.

Heat packs. And if all else fails there are heat packs or nuan bao bao. You can buy these at your neighborhood convenience store. Simply open the package and shake the pouch around a little bit. A rapid oxidation of the powdered iron contents generates the heat. The pouches come in different sizes, one type small enough to place inside your shoes to keep your feet warm. Some also come with an adhesive back so you can stick them inside your sweater. The heat lasts up to 8 hours.


Guo Mei– 718 Caoxi Bei Rd. near Puhui Rd. / 80 Changshou Rd. near Jiangning Rd. / 1199 Wuzhong Rd.

Suning – 1075 Wuzhong Rd. / 358 Haining Rd. near Sichuan Bei Rd.

Yolo – 398 Guilin Rd. near Tianlin Xincun / 1415 Zhonghua Rd. near Fuxing Dong Rd. / 505 Gubei Rd. near Waimao Xueyuan

Carrefour – 268 Shuicheng Nan Rd.

Hymall – 2066 Nanjing Xi Rd near Zhenning Rd. / 128 Zhaojiabang Rd.

Century Mart – 666 Tianyaoqiao Rd.

Uniqlo - 4F Grand Gateway Plaza, 1 Hongqiao Rd. / 3F Raffles City, #268 Middle Xi Zang Rd.

Lids – B1 Shanghai Times Square, 99 Middle Huai Hai Rd.

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