Skip to content
  • Epic Quest
  • Contact Me!
  • About Me
Instagram YouTube Facebook
Menu

Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker.

Writer. Traveler. Tea Drinker. Doing all three in China
Instagram YouTube Facebook
  • Epic Quest
  • Contact Me!
  • About Me
Hit enter to search or esc to close
Home  >  China • Chinese Culture  >  Makin' it Rain (with Chinese Characteristics)
Posted inChina Chinese Culture

Makin' it Rain (with Chinese Characteristics)

Posted By Becky Ances Posted on August 2, 2013
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

Sweet, sweet, artificial rain.
Sweet, sweet, artificial rain.

Like I’ve said before the weather here has been pretty hellish. Shanghai has broken all sorts of weather records and Hangzhou has been named the hottest city in China right now. (And I get to live here. Yay.) According to Xinhua News Agency for 6 of the 7 past days we’ve had official temps of over 104 degrees (40 Celsius) with no end in sight for weeks. It’s been day after day of unrelenting hot, bright sun.
So two days ago when I heard booming thunder and saw a little sprinkle I got all excited. “Maybe we’ll have a big storm to cool things down,” I said to my student.
“Yeah,” said my student looking out the window. “But this is fake rain.”
“Umm, it looks pretty real me to.”
“The government made it.”
Yep, after making headlines during the 2008 Olympics for making sure it didn’t rain during the opening ceremony, China has been quietly building it’s weather manipulation program over the years. It now runs the world’s largest cloud seeding program. What they do is shoot rockets into the sky filled with silver iodide or dry ice. The particles are tossed up and down the atmosphere by air currents and change the normal clouds into rain making clouds. And if all goes according to plan, and it usually does, you end up with rain, though the where and when isn’t guaranteed.
People are dying, crops are withering and there is no rain forecasted for the near future. There are some definite economic ramifications as well as humanitarian. Over 10 people have died from heat related causes in Shanghai alone. So China thought it best to play god and make it rain.
The first day it just sprinkled. But yesterday it poured like crazy and we had one of the fiercest storms I’ve seen in awhile. Right when I had to walk to work.
My 10 minute walk turned to 20 very wet and windy minutes.
My 10 minute walk turned to 20 very wet and windy minutes.

Yep, it started at 6 and while I initially began walking I took refuge under an overhang when it got too heavy for me. I had to teach class and didn’t want my shoes to be totally soaked. It was raining so hard I figured it would blow by pretty quick, and the classroom was only 10 minutes away from where I was. But the minutes ticked by, and if anything, it got worse.
So I sucked it up and walked in the howling winds and torrential rains. I arrived to class 5 minutes late and totally soaked. I took my shoes and socks off, squeezed out some of the moisture and proceeded to teach class barefoot. (It was kinda fun.) But it worked. After class the temps were cooler and today was the first day below 100 degrees in a long, long time. (Though it is just temporary. While today was cloudy, 104 degrees are expected again in 2 days.)
So while the rain might be artificial, I assure you it feels very, very real.
 

Tags: cloud seeding hangzhou hot weather weather manipulation
Previous Article Getting Discouraged with the HSK
Next Article A Crazy Coincidence

Related Posts

What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way.

As I rode the slick new escalators up the side of the mountain in the Xiamen botanical Gardens, I hated myself a little. Why was I here, supporting the destruction and abuse of this gorgeous natural mountain? I mean, is there anything lazier than taking an escalator up a mountain?

Read More about What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way.
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

The Instagrammification of a Beach

You’d think in a country where Instagram was blocked there would be no Instagrammification of places. But then you’d be wrong…very wrong.

Read More about The Instagrammification of a Beach
Please install Travelera Share Buttons plugin

Leave a Reply

Cancel reply

Recent Posts

  • What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way.
  • From Zero Covid to Zero F&#*s
  • The Instagrammification of a Beach
  • The Stuff of Nightmares
  • The (Surprising) Best Chinese Food for a Picnic

Archives

Categories

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.org

Recent Posts

  • What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way. Becky Ances January 31, 2023
  • From Zero Covid to Zero F&#*s Becky Ances December 29, 2022
  • The Instagrammification of a Beach Becky Ances November 21, 2022
  • Popular
  • Recent
  • The Swiss Family Robinson are a Bunch of Jerks December 11, 2009
  • Making it Official: My Chinese Boyfriend December 7, 2012
  • Good Chinese Wife Review and a Chance to Win a Free Book!! July 27, 2014
  • 10 Signs You've Lived in China a Long Time March 29, 2014
  • What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way. January 31, 2023
  • From Zero Covid to Zero F&#*s December 29, 2022
  • The Instagrammification of a Beach November 21, 2022
  • The Stuff of Nightmares September 12, 2022

Subscribe Now to Our Newsletter, It’s Free!

Get the best content delivered straight into your inbox!

Facebook Twitter Google+

About

I’m an American who has been living in China for more than a decade! This is my blog where I muse about all things China. Please also check out my YouTube channel “Badminton Becky” and my other badminton blog at www.badmintonbecky.com

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Recent Posts

  • What’s the Laziest Way up a Mountain? This Way. January 31, 2023
  • From Zero Covid to Zero F&#*s December 29, 2022
  • The Instagrammification of a Beach November 21, 2022
© Copyright 2017. Theme by BloomPixel.