The ice industry flourishes in the summer heat in Shanghai

Throughout the month of July, the skyrocketing temperatures in Shanghai, the commercial metropolis of China, have kept Ye Xiangxiang quite busy.

According to Ye, the manager of an ice-making factory owned by Shanghai’s Yuhu Ice Company and located on the outskirts of the city, business in 2022 is twice as good as it was in a typical year.

“This year, the weather is quite hot, and the temperature is high – in Shanghai, the hottest reported temperature has been over 41 degrees – for us, for our company, it makes a big difference,” Ye stated.

Even while it would seem like the coolest job in town to spend hot summer days surrounded by ice, Ye and his factory workers are pouring sweat as they lift 40-kilogram ice blocks into trucks on days when Shanghai has issued an “orange alert” for temperatures that surpass 37 degrees Celsius.

“It’s just non-stop. The workers are only able to rest a few hours each day,” Ye added to the statement.

In addition to their traditional audience, which consists of sites like the farmer’s markets and seafood markets that are located all across Shanghai, Yuhu is selling more ice to customers in other cities that are experiencing hot weather since these customers are purchasing more ice than usual.

Ye, who is 30 years old, claims that new customers also include the local governments and districts of Shanghai. During the routine COVID-19 testing that the city conducts on its residents, some people have begun offering ice blocks in an effort to make the volunteers more comfortable.

Volunteers at testing locations have been made to endure conditions that are extremely unpleasant, as they are compelled to wear protective gear from head to toe the entire time they are there.

In spite of the fact that Ye’s firm is thriving as a result of the recent heat wave, he is extremely concerned about more global challenges that are affecting the entire planet.

“The world getting warmer is not a good situation because we need to use more refrigeration and more energy, and science tells us this is creating an abnormal situation,” he further added to his statement.