This summer, the northeastern region of China has encountered an unprecedented heatwave in 55 years. Even in the northernmost town of Mohe, temperatures have exceeded 35°C for several days in a row, with surface temperatures reaching as high as 65°C. However, air conditioning is not widespread in the northeast. College students who are sweltering in the heat have had to resort to various methods to cool off. As temperatures soar, the demand for air conditioning has skyrocketed, leading to a rush to purchase air conditioners in the northeast.
Since June, major cities such as Changchun, Shenyang, and Harbin have experienced temperatures exceeding 30°C, with some areas breaking historical records for the same period. Temperatures in some cities and counties have reached 35°C to 37°C.
Even the so-called “Ice City” of Harbin has seen temperatures rise to 36 degrees Celsius, pushing the locals’ heat tolerance to the limit.
Under the scorching heat, the online cries of college students asking for air conditioning are constant. Some students have reported cases of heatstroke due to the excessively hot dormitories. Students have been suggesting the installation of air conditioning in dormitories for years, but the university authorities have only responded with, “We’re hot too.” Currently, only some teaching buildings and the library at the university have air conditioning.
Students from several universities in Harbin have been sharing their “cooling off” strategies such as making themselves at home in dormitory corridors or catching a ride on air-conditioned buses. One student mentioned that since the dormitories have power outages at night and even electric fans cannot be used, students have resorted to laying mats in the hallways and some have even set up tents in the dormitory building.
Meanwhile, the booking rates for hotels around universities have surged. An employee at a hotel near Harbin University of Science and Technology stated, “All our rooms are fully booked, mostly by students.” They emphasized that all hotel rooms have functioning air conditioning.
The rush to book hotels outside of campus has driven room prices at nearby hotels to surge to 300 yuan per night and still be fully booked, leading some students to forgo accommodation due to the financial strain.
A student from Jilin Agricultural University posted a video of themselves cooling off by lying in a sink in the restroom; while students from Harbin Normal University, whose dormitories lack air conditioning and fans, have moved their bedding to the dormitory hallway at night.
There have been reports of cases where students have suffered heatstroke and required medical attention.
The recent heatwave has exposed the serious inadequacy of climate-adaptive infrastructure in northeastern universities. The Heilongjiang Oriental College responded that the electrical load is insufficient, and the dormitory buildings, due to their old constructions and electrical designs, cannot support the widespread operation of air conditioning and are difficult to renovate in the short term.
The emergency response capabilities of universities have been criticized, with students requesting the opening of air-conditioned facilities such as libraries and gymnasiums or adjustments to power outage policies, but the universities have not responded.
Facing the sudden heatwave this year, “whether air conditioning can cool efficiently” has become a major concern for many people in the northeast.
On social media platforms, residents in the northeast have expressed their grievances, with some remarking that after living for over thirty years, they are considering buying an air conditioner for the first time. Others shared their experiences of waiting a week for installation after placing an order, as the air conditioning manufacturers are overwhelmed with orders, even bringing in support from technicians from Henan. An employee at an air conditioning store mentioned that despite all sixty staff members working overtime, they still can’t meet the demand, with many customers even offering to pay extra for urgent installations; a large number of households are purchasing air conditioning units for the first time ever.
According to data from AVC Cloud Network, during the “618” shopping festival, the total sales of air conditioning across all channels reached 48.5 billion yuan, with 15.93 million units sold, representing a 17.5% increase. Calculated for the period of the event, an average of over 500,000 air conditioning units were sold every day. Northeastern residents accounted for a significant portion of these purchases.
From June 23 to 29 and June 30 to July 6, offline air conditioning sales in Heilongjiang Province increased by 817.68% and 438%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. In Jilin Province, offline air conditioning sales surged by 128.76% and 788.4%, respectively.
JD.com data also indicated that in the past seven days, air conditioning transactions in the northeast region have increased more than sevenfold, with Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning provinces ranking in the top 10 in the region for transactions. The booming air conditioning market in the northeast is clearly evident.
Of note, in this surge of new demand, first-time installations make up as much as 70% of the sales, indicating a significant need for initial purchases on a large scale.
As we move into July, Haier air conditioners have continued to see increasing sales in the three northeastern provinces: retail sales in Jilin have grown by 355%, in Heilongjiang by 333%, and in Liaoning by a staggering 518%. By the 26th week, Haier air conditioner sales in 2025 had increased by 74.1% year-on-year.
The concentrated surge in sales has led to a significant increase in the workload for air conditioning installation technicians. The northeast has become a frontier requiring reinforcements: Haier has mobilized over 300 installation personnel from other provinces to rush to Harbin; Suning.com has formed an emergency installation team of 200 people, collaborating with different brands to ensure a daily installation rate of over 95%; Midea has reassigned over 150 groups of cross-regional service engineers from six cities to support areas in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and other regions.