The weather has given me laduzi for 2 weeks.

Because I can't spell the word 'diaorrhea', I will call it laduzi, the Chinese name.

2 weeks ago, I went for a lunch with someone I knew. It was really good, lots of speaking Chinese, good company and interesting foods. Then we went into the centre of Xian, and it was so damn hot. The more I stayed outside, the sicker I felt, purely from the heat (the food was OK). That day and the proceeding days were 35-37 degrees. And in the crowded, dusty, concrete filled city, it feels worse. I felt like one of those British colonial government officials in India in the 19th century, hopelessly unsuited to the local conditions. Since then, my constitution has been wobblier than the Chinese government's official explanation of the events in Tiananman Square 1989.

Fortunately, its cooled down to a piffling 28, 30 degrees or so, but when it was nasty hot, it was impossible to sleep properly. I'm really looking forward to the 40-plus summer months, especially in my non-airconditioned room. I'm waiting for my flatmate to buy this cheap fan-type thing, and if it's effective I'll get one as well. We have, however, bought a fridge (16 pounds), so I can keep it well stocked with local beer.

I might be wrong here, but I think Chinese people believe that it's good to eat hot food in summer, because it makes you sweat and therefore cool down. This reminds me of the Victorian medical practice of bleeding. When I eat hot food in the hottest days here, my body temperature goes up to somewhere near the top of the Kelvin scale, and I feel a good deal less healthy.

It almost never rains here, and when it does it smells like a building site because of all the dust. Windy conditions are also, due to said dust, not wonderful. People here have umbrellas because its hot, not because it rains. And I continue the enjoy the Chinese men's habit of rolling up their trousers and jumpers in hot weather to cool themselves down, revealing a fat belly and veiny legs.

At the moment, its not bad, so I can play ping-pong most evenings on campus with random Chinese people without flopping to the ground like a overly cooked noodle.