Radiating cold

In Beijing, central heating is turned off in every building -- every apartment, every supermarket, every office -- in mid-March, as decreed by the government, so when a cold front moves in, as it did earlier this week, there is an awful sort of cold that seeps into your bones and settles there like the worst type of house guest, refusing to leave. This is not the place for those with poor circulation.

I am chilled to my innermost core, unable to shake this nippiness, and none too pleased. Of course, as with all aspects of life here in the big, noisy, rambunctious, oft-confused city, neither temper nor happiness is something you can afford to lose. Perhaps I should start wearing gloves more often.

POSTSCRIPT: The final word on last week's blocking of YouTube, from Time's Austin Ramzy.