Culture
The recent long-term weather forecasts indicate that this winter is likely to be the most severe in many years. So be prepared and dress warmly to avoid catching a cold or flu. Get your flu shot if you have not already done so, it is available at most hospitals and International Clinics. Each year during the winter, cases of influenza, the "Flu" affects millions of people and results in 250,000 to 500,000 deaths. Luckily we have not experienced the pandemic of the "Spanish Flu" in 1918 that killed as many as 100 million people worldwide.
Everyone has their favorite pieces of clothes to keep warm during the chilly days ahead and some are very interesting, especially when you start comparing trends with the West and East.
It seems that the majority of the local Chinese do not favor wearing any type of protective headwear. You seldom see the men with hats, hooded jackets or anything covering their heads in China unless they are bald and forced to wear at least a cap.
Recently while in Harbin and the temperature was minus 15, one of the hardy Canadian visitors remarked that this was a distinct difference from what she was used to seeing in Northern Canada when the temperatures dipped to the same severity. Most people did not wear hats or gloves. In Canada, Bryanna said that she and others would wear a parka with a hood, a good wool hat and either leather or woolen gloves. Actually when it is really cold, mitts are probably better because you can clinch your fingers together to keep warm.
Many Canadians ski, so the clothing that they use for skiing is often worn during the cold weather. It is not unusual to wear full ski clothing when walking to and from work and changing into regular work clothing at the office.
One common head ware in Canada is the "Toque" (or sometimes spelled tuque), which is a knitted cap that can be pulled over the ears or you may see a "Balaclava", a toque with holes for the eyes and mouth (without this opening, ice would build up) so you can pull the knitted cap over your entire face to keep it warm.
Underwear
For the body, most Chinese will wear "Qiu Ku 秋裤?" basically what we call "Long Johns" or "Thermal Underwear". It was made popular in England over 200 years ago and was a one-piece article, which was used by the boxer John Sullivan, thus the name, who wore it during his boxing matches. In North America, they are usually made of cotton and a polyester blend and made of wool in Europe. Another natural material that you can try is silk, it is light and very comfortable, probably not warm enough on its own but works great with another layer of clothing.
Nowadays, there are many fabrics on the market for winter clothing, as mentioned, cotton and wool are traditional choices but several synthetic products are very popular that feature the ability to "breath". This means that clothing will allow the moisture or sweat from the body to pass through and not collect in the material and freeze in the cold. One popular brand is "Gore-Tex" which was invented by accident. By a father and son who were experimenting with PTFE polytetraflouroethylene. Now that the patent has expired, there are many other similar products on the market.
Outerwear
There is probably nothing cuter than seeing a Chinese baby wrapped up in the "MianAo" 棉袄 which is a padded cotton jacket usually in a bright color fabric similar to a quilt. The fashion seems to be coming back as you see women now wearing fashionable mian'ao jackets. In the past, these were homemade in the rural areas. More common now are the fluffed up down filled ski jackets or long coats called "YuRongFu" 羽绒服 in Chinese.
As mentioned earlier, one principle of dressing to keep warm is to wear layers of clothing and build up walls of insulation. Start with regular underwear or those highlighted above then add your shirt and have a vest or sweater finished with your outer coat. The advantage of this is if it warms up, you can strip off layers as needed. Obviously the airlines have thought of this as you can see locker rooms at the arrivals area near the luggage carousals where arriving passengers can change into more appropriate clothes depending upon local temperature conditions.
Footwear
This is where we have some big differences between our two cultures. I asked several of my Chinese friends and they all said that Western girls dress more fashionably by wearing slimmer leggings and not the bulky "QuiKu" mentioned above. Sophia, who recently immigrated to Canada, said she finds that the locals seem better able to withstand the cold compared to her daughter and herself who grew up in Tianjin.
One of the more popular styles recently are "Shiny Leggings" they are tight fitting and look like leather or latex and probably good for cutting down the wind. The most ugly looking ones are the flesh-color hose that do not fit well and are wrinkled but probably do the job of keeping the legs warm.
My Harbin friend, Hongmei who travels a great deal internationally has an explanation of dressing differences that makes a lot of sense. She reasons that most people in North America travel by their own car and therefore spend less time outside going from warm building to heated garages or parkades and their travel time is more predictable so they can dress more comfortably.
She also explained that many of the Chinese elderly rely on local bus transportation, rather than taxis which are more expensive and now requires the use of a taxi app such as DiDi which is difficult for the elderly that are not as familiar with this process. Their travel times are therefore more unpredictable and they must dress for the worst weather conditions and plan for unexpected delays. This means that local Chinese will overdress during winter when compared to Westerners that she sees in her travels. These are good points and if you are relying on local bus transportation or have to walk in the outside elements for longer distances, probably wise to wear more than you would if you were back home.
Shoes are another matter, if you look at what the locals are wearing, I don't see many winter shoes or boots, the men usually wear the same leather shoes that they wear during the summer. Which is really crazy when there is a snowfall. In fact back home, you can buy slip-ons or rubber boots that fit over your regular shoes, something that is unheard of here. There are even slip-ons that have steel spikes so you won't slip on ice. Really weird is seeing local girls wearing regular shoes without socks.
In the West, ski boots and high wool or fur-lined boots are very common. They are usually taken off once inside and changed into regular shoes or slippers, which means carrying a bag for the extra shoes.
Conclusion
As winter starts to envelope us this year, make sure you are prepared. Dress warmly and wear proper clothes, nothing is worse than catching a cold or flu and heaven forbid, falling and hurting yourself so take care and enjoy the outdoors.
