Taking shelter: Xu Xianggui, a man in his 70s from Hunan, built a shelter in a hill near his home to avoid the summer heat. He dug the 50-meter-long, 3-meter-high cave over a six-month period in 2005. The shelter remains at 28 C even when the temperature outside reaches 35 C. In summer, his neighbors often drop by the cave for an after-dinner game of mahjong.

The high life: University students in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, have an alternative to their stuffy dorms - camping on the roof. Widely circulated photos on the popular micro-blogging site Sina Weibo show students of Wuhan University of Technology sleeping a bit closer to the stars, accompanied by some of their more enterprising peers who thought to bring along mosquito nets.

Icy rice: Put a silk stocking stuffed with rice into the refrigerator for two hours and then place it in or near your bed. The rice can maintain a lower temperature for a long time due to its composition and density, so the cooled rice can help you sink into sleep during hot summer.