Once regarded as a refuge from blistering summer heat, Northeast China is now facing record-breaking temperatures — and scrambling for air conditioners.

As heatwaves sweep across China, the country’s high-latitude provinces of Liaoning, Jilin, and Heilongjiang have this year been hit especially hard. Between June 24 and 26, average temperatures in much of the region exceeded 30 degrees Celsius, with many areas surpassing 35 degrees Celsius. Some even recorded temperatures of 40 degrees, marking unprecedented extremes.

The heat even reached Mohe, China’s northernmost county-level city, where temperatures can be as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius in winter. Starting June 25, temperatures in the city exceeded 35 degrees Celsius for three consecutive days — an event last recorded in 1970.

In a region where air conditioner use has historically been uncommon due to its short and mild summers, the unexpected heat has caught residents and businesses off guard.

According to the 2023 China Household Survey Yearbook, air conditioner ownership in the three provinces sits well below the national average, with 56.8 units per 100 households in Liaoning, 17.7 in Jilin, and 13.3 in Heilongjiang. By contrast, eastern China’s Zhejiang province averages 218.8 units per 100 households — more than two per home.

In 2024, the region accounted for just 3.72% of national air conditioner sales, or 3.89 million units. With limited demand, fewer manufacturers have established operations there compared to the air conditioning consumption and production hubs concentrated in the Pearl River and Yangtze River Delta regions.

Despite the heatwave easing slightly since the beginning of July, residents across the Northeast have continued to purchase air conditioners en masse to prepare for more extreme weather, sending both online and offline sales soaring.

On e-commerce platform JD.com, transaction volumes have surged compared to the same period last year — rising sixfold in Heilongjiang, tenfold in Liaoning, and 25 times in Jilin. First-time buyers on the platform accounted for a significant portion of the demand, jumping more than 200% across the region.

The surge is driven by both individuals and institutions, including universities incorporating air conditioning into campus renovation projects. Harbin Engineering University in Heilongjiang, for instance, announced plans to invest 18.5 million yuan ($2.6 million) to purchase over 7,000 air conditioning units for student dormitories. In late June, amid the heatwave, some students were reportedly sleeping in corridors or setting up tents outdoors to escape the sweltering conditions.

To cope with the sudden spike in demand, installation technicians have been dispatched to the region to address the shortage of skilled labor. For example, JD.com sent 500 installers from provinces such as Shaanxi and Sichuan. Major home electronics brands, including Midea and Haier, also mobilized hundreds of professionals from across the country to help alleviate installation pressure.

The region’s unique housing infrastructure — mainly designed to keep the bitter winter cold out — has posed a challenge. One installer from the southwestern Sichuan province, surnamed Zhao, told local media that he could complete up to 10 installations in a single day in the provincial capital Chengdu. But in the Northeast, he can only complete three to four, as many households are first-time users and new holes must be drilled for each unit.

“Our buildings here usually have walls that are more than 50 centimeters thick, with some reaching nearly two meters,” Wang Lei, a 38-year-old installer from Harbin, told local media.

“They’re filled with dense rebar and concrete, so we often need to switch out seven or eight extended drill rods just to punch through.”

Compared to the standard 30-centimeter-thick walls in southern China, installations in the Northeast can take three to four hours — six times longer than usual, Wang explained.

Domestic media also predicted that rising humidity in the region may lead to more localized thunderstorms in the future, potentially creating a monsoon-like pattern of sudden heavy rain followed by oppressive heat similar to what is seen in the south.

Editor: Tom Arnstein.

(Header image: Pedestrians shield themselves from the scorching sun in Shenyang, Liaoning province, July 8, 2025. VCG)