Since the beginning of the Chinese dog days July 11, which are also known as the Sanfu days that mark summer’s hottest spells, it seems like the city is steaming hot. Residents gravitate to shopping malls to enjoy free air conditioning, flock to water parks and indoor skiing rinks to have a thrill adventure while banishing the heat, and rush to buy cooling products such as air conditioners, fans, refrigerators, ice cream makers, and electric fans.

Cooling product sales surge

Since June, sales of summer products has increased by 13% at Rainbow stores. In the last two days, Suning.com’s Shenzhen sales of air conditioners rose by 35%. Vanguard Caitian Store has seen a 31% increase in sales of cold food and drinks, sunscreen and clothes, according to a Shenzhen Special Zone Daily report.

Water sports outfits such as swimwear, UV glasses and swimming boards have become popular purchases among families who chose to hit the beach or water to beat the heat.

At sporting goods retailer Decathlon, sales of water sports-related items went up by 20% between July 1 and 11, with sales of UV protectors, surf boards, paddles and UV protective clothing seeing increases by almost 50%, the report said.

Sports to keep cool

Indoor sports have witnessed increasing popularity, which boosts related training courses.

About 800 people have so far taken short-term summer sports training courses at the natatorium of Shenzhen Sports Center, 40% more than last year, according to Wang Yang, manager of the swimming department.

In the past weeks, the number of visits to Karoo Ice Snow in Longhua District increased by four times during week days and eight times during the weekends, according to He Jie, marketing manager of Karoo. Most of them were families and some came from Hong Kong.

Children have fun at Karoo Ice Snow at the Mission Hills Sports & Eco Park in Longhua District. Chen Jianhua

At the Window of the World theme park, the ski field of Alps Ice and Snow World was also packed with children and young people.

“We come here for the summer vacation,” a student surnamed Xie from Xiamen in Fujian Province said.

‘Cool houses’ for outdoor workers

A total of 62 people had suffered sunstrokes and two of them had died of sun stroke between July 1 and 12, data from the Shenzhen Medical Emergency Center showed.

The Dapeng Subdistrict Office in Dapeng New Area unveiled a map of “cool houses” Friday, where street cleaners can take a rest.

The “cool houses” are equipped with air conditioners, Wi-Fi, mobile phone chargers and medicines for sunstroke prevention.

At around 10 a.m. Friday, two sanitation workers, Wang Ling and Yao Zongling, came to a nearby “cool house” to take a rest.

“It’s nice to have some cold air here,” Yao said.

For 2023, the dog days will stretch their reign for about 40 days.

The heat might be eased as Typhoon Talim, the fourth typhoon this year, is forecast to come ashore between west of Guangdong Province and Hainan Province this evening, bringing strong winds and heavy rain to the city.