With summer heating up, campus dormitories without air conditioners in Central China are pushing students in pursuit of cooler temperatures to become creative. Central China Normal University in Wuhan, Hubei province, opened its air-conditioned sports hall to 600 students to make beds on the floor when a heat wave hit the region along the Yangtze River last month. A joke circulating on the college BBS goes: “Sleeping on dormitory beds is like baking a pancake; just turn over and bake the other side.”
夏季持续升温，由于华中地区的校园宿舍没有配备空调，为避暑降温学生们不得不施展创意才华。上个月，一股热浪席卷了长江流域的许多城市，湖北武汉的华中师范大学向600名学生们开放了配有空调的体育馆，学生们纷纷打起地铺来。在该校论坛上一则笑话广为流传：“在宿舍的床上睡觉就像烤蛋糕一样，翻个身，烤烤另一面。”
Students nationwide are commencing a campaign to keep cool in their dormitories. Here, some of them share their creative ideas, and it doesn’t involve sleeping on the dormitory roof.
全国各地的学生们纷纷开展宿舍避暑活动。本文中，一些学生分享了他们的新奇妙招，当然并不会鼓励你去睡在宿舍楼顶。
Recycled waterbed
空瓶变水床
Gong Lei is a sophomore majoring in graphic design at Wuhan Donghu University. His roommates collect used water bottles to exchange them for cash. But when Wuhan was hit by 35 C temperatures last month, Gong came up with the idea of turning them into a waterbed.
宫磊（音译）是来自武汉东湖学院平面设计专业的大二学生。他的室友们常常攒些空瓶子换钱。但当上个月武汉气温达到35℃时，宫磊想出了一个“空瓶变水床”的主意。
Gong and his roommates worked together to turn the idea into reality. Two of them filled the empty bottles with water, while the other two tied all the bottles together into a bed. It took them 40 minutes to finish the task. Now they take turns to sleep on the waterbed using a thin mat.
宫磊和室友们携手将这一想法付诸实践。其中两个人往空瓶中灌水，而另外二人将灌满水的瓶子绑在一起做成床。这项工程耗时40分钟。现在，他们轮流睡在这张铺着薄凉席的水床上。
Cool vegetables
蔬菜降温法
Hong Li, a sophomore majoring in architecture at Guangdong University of Technology, recently read on Sina Weibo that holding a wax gourd while sleeping can cool the body by three degrees. When he couldn’t bear the heat any longer, he decided to give it a shot.
洪力（音译）是广东工业大学建筑专业的大二学生。最近，他在新浪微博上读了一篇关于抱冬瓜睡觉可降3度体温的微博。当他无法忍受闷热天气时，洪力决定尝一下这招。
Hong spent 15 yuan on a 5-kilogram wax gourd from a supermarket. “I used it for several days and the results were good, ” says Hong.
洪力花了15 块钱从超市买了个5公斤重的冬瓜。他说：“这招我用了好几天，效果很好。”
Inflatable pool
充气泳池
Students at Hubei University of Technology set up an inflatable pool in their dormitory. They play card games and even eat instant noodles in the pool.
湖北工业大学的学生们在宿舍里摆上了充气泳池。他们在泳池里打牌，甚至是吃泡面。
“One of my roommates bought an inflatable pool for 260 yuan, ” says Wang Xiaoxing.
“我的一个室友花260块钱买了一个充气泳池，”王晓星（音译）说道。
The inflatable pool is 2.3 meters long and nearly covers the entire floor of the dormitory, which is only 20 square meters in size. Wang and his roommates used 10 buckets of water to fill the inflatable pool.
这种长2.3米、仅20平方米大小的充气泳池几乎可以覆盖整个宿舍的地面。王晓星和室友们用了10桶水才把充气泳池填满。
“Students from other dormitories often come to cool down in the pool, ” Wang says proudly.
王晓星得意地说：“其他宿舍的同学经常来我们的‘泳池’凉快一下！”
Tunnel camp
地下通道露营
Chen Quanhong, a junior majoring in geographic information systems at China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, is camping in a tunnel with several students.
陈全洪（音译）就读于武汉市中国地质大学地理信息系统专业大三年级。他和几个同学一起在地下通道里开始了露营生活。
“Our school is built around a mountain and there is a tunnel that connects both parts of the campus.” says Chen. “It’s much cooler than the dormitory. You don’t even need a fan.” Chen shared his discovery with students online: “All you need is a tent, a mat and some insect repellent. Just don’t drink too much water, because the toilet is far away.”
“我们的学校环山而建，用一条地下通道连接两个校区，”陈全洪说，“那里比宿舍凉快得多，甚至都不用扇扇子。”他在网上与同学们分享了这一发现：“你只需要准备一顶帐篷，一个凉席和一些杀虫剂就可以了。但别喝太多水，因为厕所离得很远。”