CHINA WATCH The Beijing government has ordered that air conditioning units in most public buildings should be set no cooler than 26 degrees Celsius, presumably as part of efforts to cut energy use, according to a report in Chinadaily.

So does this policy work? To be honest, the air conditioning at my office (shared with a multinational IT company) gives me goosebumps–it’s just too cold. I have to put on a long-sleeved shirt in the office, only to take it off when I’m out the office. And an informal poll of several female co-workers revealed similar sentiments.

But others find theirs too hot, such as office worker Zhang Yifan. “I don’t know the temperature, but I think it should be lower,” he reckons. “Girls in our office often turn down the air conditioning. I can’t stand it.”

Wang Lu, the boss of a local IT media company, prefers fresh air and opens the window in his own office everyday: “I don’t want air-conditioning, but I can’t turn it off because it is controlled by the building’s management centre.” He wasn’t aware of the new 26 degree policy, but gives it the thumbs up.

Du Shuang, who works in the government building, feels the opposite. He dressed in a tee-shirt but still feel the temperature should be lower. “I can see that the temperature in our office is 27.5 degrees Celsius, it’s too hot for me”.

So the office politics of what’s too hot and what’s not rumbles on. But at least people can blame the government now, rather than the chap in finance who’s never happy with the temperature…

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