[photopress:Thermostat.gif,full,alignright]Beijing residents normally have to wait until November 15 for Beijing Heating Group (BJHG) to provide heating to their homes. But this year it was turned on on November 7, bringing a warm welcome to winter in the capital.
“The heating has been on for a few days in my home,” a roadside bicycle repairman told China Daily yesterday. “It’s warm enough. I’m getting what I deserve for the 800 yuan heating fee I paid.”
Every resident pays a heating fee based on their house’s size in square meters, a normal residence measuring about 100 sqm. The heating bill for a house covering nearly 400 sqm would come to RMB5,000, a price residents can afford who own the luxury villas located on the outskirts of the city.
The national heating system in China has been widely criticized, with residents complaining they are too hot in the autumn but too cold in the winter. Some say the system wastes energy, is too inflexible in its pricing and too slow in collecting fees.
Source: People’s Daily Online