Toiling outdoors in summer

Xu Qiang, 55, works at a construction site in Shenyang, Liaoning province, on Aug. 2, 2018. Sweating all over, Xu has been a construction worker for eight years. [Photo by Cai Minqiang/China.org.cn]

The summer heat was unbearable in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, on Aug. 2 when the temperature soared to 38.4 degrees Celsius, a record high in the city since 1950.

In Shenyang, 38-year-old Wen Qi and his colleagues were working on a bridge construction site under the scorching sun.

Before starting their shifts, many workers soaked their clothes with a water pipe before putting them on in an effort to cool down.

As a group leader, Wen assigned each man his task for the day. Then swiftly, the workers climbed up the ladder onto the bridge, which stands seven-meters above the ground, found their posts and got to work.

"Stepping onto the bridge, I can feel the heat under my feet. The sun is burning the steel bars and reinforced concrete," said 55-year-old Xu Qiang, who was sweating all over.

Xu has been working on construction sites for eight years and said he has already adapted to the extreme weather and working conditions.

The heat at noon becomes suffocating and workers were asked to get off the bridge and take a rest. To keep on schedule, they return to work at around dusk when the temperature drops slightly.

Currently, the bridge over the express way is progressing smoothly as the workers toil through the day and night and is expected to be completed on schedule.

Heat waves hit many parts of China this summer. By early August, the National Meteorological Center had issued several rounds of yellow alerts as Beijing, Tianjin, Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang and Jiangxi witnessed temperatures reach 35-39 degrees Celsius - termed extreme weather in meteorology.