Windows.

One of the things that takes a little getting used to is the fact that most things are done in what seems to be a very backwards, illogical way in China compared to the United States. The heat in our apartment is very good, but there is no thermostat and we do not choose when it is turned on or off. We have to open a window to regulate the temperature. The heat is also very good at the private school where I work and they too open the windows, but for a totally different reason. They open the windows between classes to kill the germs with the cold air. The problem with this is they also do this in the summer. If we open our windows at home, they say that we are wasting heat, which is included in the cost of the monthly fees whether there is heat or not. The private school has air conditioners that are used during class time for one hour in the summer, but is turned off for the fifteen minutes between classes and what cool air was produced during the class is quickly wasted when they open all the windows after each class. We try to explain they could save energy if they leave the air conditioners on and not open the windows, but that sounds backwards and doesn't make since to the Chinese. The long and short of this is that non-Chinese are wasteful and Chinese always do things the right way.