Outdoor heroes toil in blistering sun to maintain safe essential services
When super hot weather hits Hangzhou and breaks meteorological records, most people hurry indoors so they can take advantage of air-conditioning at work, at home or in shops.
But that's not possible for some people whose work must go on under the glare of a pitiless sun. They include traffic police, garbage cleaners, security patrol officers, delivery men, construction workers and lifeguards, to name a few.
Those whose plight might be the worst are the garbage cleaners.
Zhang Xiguo has been clearing trash from the surface of West Lake for over eight years. This summer he is suffering more than usual as days with temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius are more than previous years.
He drinks water "like crazy" to prevent dehydration and heat stroke, both of which are life-threatening. The lake surface is not as cool as people imagine, with billows of steam already rising as early as 10am some days.
"I drink 8 liters of water every day, but still feel thirsty," Zhang said. "I am drenched after working for a few minutes."
Zhang Xiguo collects trash from West Lake. With the recent heatwaves, the job comes with many challenges.
Zhang and his team work in fixed periods every day to avoid the heat as much as possible. He gets up at 5am, takes a break from work at 10am, and then continues to clear trash from 3:30pm to 9pm.
"At 10am, the sun reflects off the lake, creating an awful glare. We have to go back. Even at 7pm, the surface of the lake is still above 35 degrees Celsius," said Zhang. "The job is hard, but I feel satisfied because I see the lake gets clean."
Leaves and water grass frequently clog the lake's outlets which Zhang and his colleagues must clean for two hours every work day. If a typhoon hits the city, they have to unclog the outlets each hour.
Debris like dead fish, leaves and branches, and trash discarded by tourists impact the lake's water quality. After fishing out the garbage, the workers sort and transport it to microbe processing machines.
Other heroes toiling in the heat include the patrol officers along Qiantang River, which has what is believed to be the world's largest tidal bore.
As the tide flows into the mouth of the river from Hangzhou Bay, the waves can rise to a height of up to 9 meters.
The tides rise twice a day all year around, sometimes so quickly that people become stranded, and it can be a potential danger to the public at any time. They have to warn those out-of-town visitors who had thought they could run from the rising tide, and remind those anglers on a T-shaped dam that they could also be caught out by a low tide.
Sun Jia and his team have been striving to ensure the safety on the river for years.
It takes many hours to inspect the Jiuxi section and they patrol several times a day. The scorching weather makes their uniforms stay constantly drenched.
Sun Jia (left) leads his team on patrol in the Jiuxi section of Qiantang River several times a day.
The local government has set up a station where patrol officers work in shifts to supervise monitoring cameras along the river. But they can't just take a dip in the water when they like.
"The sense of responsibility is paramount. The security of the river is related to every tourist. We cannot let down our guard," Sun said.
On August 2, 2007, about 30 people were swept away by tides and 11 of them died. In 2019, one of the three people who were swept away in the Xiaoshan section died.
The average water level of Qiantang River is around 4 meters. Usually the largest waves appear in the first and third weeks of every lunar month. It has been calculated that the average thrust per cubic meter of water is 7 tons. The water can rise to 7 meters if a typhoon adds weight to the peak tidal forces.
The tides are best viewed in September, and their highest is often around the 18th day of the eighth lunar month. As the days approach, Sun and his team strengthen their patrols in tandem with police and traffic authorities.
