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Photos: Heat turns Shanghai streets into giant slumber party

Shanghai swelters under a summer heat wave, it sometimes looks as if people are dropping dead from the torrid temperatures on the city's best-known shopping avenue. The city of more than 24 million people has endured an extended hot spell over recent weeks, with temperatures on Thursday topping 35 degrees Celsius for the 16th day this summer. Normally bustling Nanjing East Road has turned into an open-air slumber party on recent nights as local residents try to escape the heat of their cramped nearby homes by sleeping outside on benches or directly on the pavement.keep electricity bills from skyrocketing during summer.

Updated on: Aug 12, 2018 2:08 PM IST

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As Shanghai swelters under a summer heat wave, it sometimes looks as if people are dropping dead from the torrid temperatures on the city’s best-known shopping avenue. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

Updated on Aug 12, 2018 2:08 PM

As Shanghai swelters under a summer heat wave, it sometimes looks as if people are dropping dead from the torrid temperatures on the city’s best-known shopping avenue. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

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Normally bustling Nanjing East Road has turned into an open-air slumber party on recent nights as local residents try to escape the heat of their cramped nearby homes by sleeping outside on benches or directly on the pavement. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

Updated on Aug 12, 2018 2:08 PM

Normally bustling Nanjing East Road has turned into an open-air slumber party on recent nights as local residents try to escape the heat of their cramped nearby homes by sleeping outside on benches or directly on the pavement. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

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A man sleeps in front of a shopping mall along Nanjing East Road. The city of more than 24 million people has endured an extended hot spell over recent weeks, with temperatures on Thursday topping 35 degrees Celsius for the 16th day this summer. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

Updated on Aug 12, 2018 2:08 PM

A man sleeps in front of a shopping mall along Nanjing East Road. The city of more than 24 million people has endured an extended hot spell over recent weeks, with temperatures on Thursday topping 35 degrees Celsius for the 16th day this summer. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

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A man spends the hot night sleeping on the pavement. Many homes in some of Shanghai’s low-rise older neighbourhoods lack air conditioning, while residents that do have it will often seek ways to keep electricity bills from skyrocketing during summer. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

Updated on Aug 12, 2018 2:08 PM

A man spends the hot night sleeping on the pavement. Many homes in some of Shanghai’s low-rise older neighbourhoods lack air conditioning, while residents that do have it will often seek ways to keep electricity bills from skyrocketing during summer. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

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Around 4 am on Thursday nearly 100 people -- including women and children, but mostly bare-chested men -- were seen sleeping out on sidewalks normally crowded with shoppers and tourists during the daytime. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

Updated on Aug 12, 2018 2:08 PM

Around 4 am on Thursday nearly 100 people -- including women and children, but mostly bare-chested men -- were seen sleeping out on sidewalks normally crowded with shoppers and tourists during the daytime. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

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Dozing upon newspapers, blankets, or nothing at all, people sought relief from a night breeze blowing off the Huangpu River, which flows through the city centre. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

Updated on Aug 12, 2018 2:08 PM

Dozing upon newspapers, blankets, or nothing at all, people sought relief from a night breeze blowing off the Huangpu River, which flows through the city centre. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

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Some bivouacked in nearby People’s Square -- Shanghai’s main park -- or snored while curled up outside clothing-store windows as mannequins stood guard inside. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

Updated on Aug 12, 2018 2:08 PM

Some bivouacked in nearby People’s Square -- Shanghai’s main park -- or snored while curled up outside clothing-store windows as mannequins stood guard inside. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

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Shanghai residents are known for flocking to subway stations, shopping malls, libraries, and supermarkets to escape the heat. Shanghai is getting hotter, logging a new record high of 40.9 degrees in July of last year, and eight of the 12 highest temperatures reached over the past century were hit only in the last five years, according to the city weather bureau. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

Updated on Aug 12, 2018 2:08 PM

Shanghai residents are known for flocking to subway stations, shopping malls, libraries, and supermarkets to escape the heat. Shanghai is getting hotter, logging a new record high of 40.9 degrees in July of last year, and eight of the 12 highest temperatures reached over the past century were hit only in the last five years, according to the city weather bureau. (Johannes Eisele / AFP)

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