CHONGQING — In the mega-city of Chongqing, in south-west China, a supermarket was packed with elders but there isn’t a sale. Instead they were staying put for the air-conditioning to beat the heat.

They were occupying several aisles there during a record heatwave, now into its third month, with temperatures often exceeding 40°C in the city.

Many arrived at the supermarket with stools and even wooden chairs from home, prepared to camp out at the supermarket, going by a video posted on Douyin, the original Chinese version of TikTok, filmed on Aug 19.

The senior citizens have been visiting daily after 7pm for a month now, the supermarket owner told Chinese media.

“As my customers, I spoil you,” the store owner wrote in the caption of his video. 

Older people in other parts of China have also been spotted taking refuge in supermarkets to escape the heat.

Some have felt so at home that they even fell asleep on supermarket shelves, one video filmed in China's Hubei province showed. 

Supermarket workers tried to chase away the unwanted patrons but to no avail, Chinese media reported.

Temperatures in Chongqing hit 45°C late last week. Southern China has recorded its longest continuous period of high temperatures since records began more than 60 years ago, Chinese authorities said.

The authorities there were forced to impose power cuts in the city, in order to deal with a surge in demand for electricity partly driven by the increased usage of air-conditioning. 

In neighbouring Sichuan province, photos on social media showed people sitting in the dark or dimmed lights in the train, as the region copes with a power crunch during the heatwave. 

The unprecedented heatwave has led to wildfires and a severe drought in China's south.

CREATIVE WAYS OF BEATING THE HEAT

Besides chilling in supermarkets, residents in Chongqing have been spotted using other unconventional methods to beat the heat. 

Some villagers were filmed enjoying hotpot in a cave wearing winter wear, where temperatures were 16°C, compared to the scorching 42°C outside, state media China Daily reported on Aug 21. 

Visitors to a water park sat in buckets of ice water while enjoying a game of mahjong, during a summer recreational event in a water park in Chongqing.

Tables for four were set up in the water park’s "lazy river" course and dry ice and ice were poured into the pool to maximise its chilling effects, Chinese reports detailed. 

Perhaps Wild Wild Wet or Adventure Cove would like to host an iced pool mahjong festival when temperatures creep up again in Singapore next April?