Now I have an upgraded electricity fuse box and a wider water pipe, I no longer dread the snow. A few years ago (or was it last year) I was without water for 4 days because my pipes froze solid. In the end it worked out quite well because I got myself a new water supply which is also insulated. I overlooked the fact that the bathroom floor was dug and and not put back down properly afterwards – I was just so happy I got water again.
So when it started to snow I didn’t mind at all, in fact it was quite exciting. I was not scared of putting on the heater at the same time as making a cup of tea. On Thursday I 
made the mistake of not taking my woolen mittens before I went up to Anfu Lu to get my hair cut and go to Avocado Lady.
In fact, when I left the house it wasn’t that cold but by the time my ears had got lowered, the temperature had dropped considerably and in the end I had to keep swapping my umbrella holding hand with my ‘in the pocket’ hand to stave off frost bite. Never have I been so happy to open the door to my small apartment and be met with warmth.
The snow didn’t last long and even when it started again a few days later, it didn’t stick and we ended up with just a loose mush of slush and small piles of compacted snow around the bottom of lampposts.
But while it lasted, Shanghai looked quite pretty and the coloured umbrellas looked bright against the snowy backdrop. Car and street lights reflected in the melt water and people shuffled carefully along the pavement wrapped up in multiple layers of thermals, wool and down jackets.
These workmen gave up and sat in the relative warmth of the metro system on their helmets. The metro is reliably warm in the winter and cool in the summer.