Stoves and Warmers (火炉 Huolu)

Stoves are the Chinese people's traditional tools for heating in winter. According to the purposes they serve, they may be classified into heating stoves, fire pans, hand warmers and foot stoves. They are in most cases fueled by charcoal.

In the northern parts of China, winter is rather severe, with the temperature generally below freezing point, and few of the old houses there are installed with central heating. So, since ancient times, coal burning stoves have been used to keep the rooms warm and a kettle of water boiling. To prevent carbon monoxide poisoning, tinplate pipes are fixed to channel the coal gas outdoors. Still, owing to faulty installation or bad ventilation, cases of gas poisoning are occasionally reported.

Winter in the middle parts of China is comparatively mild, but the mercury may also drop below zero at times. When this happens, a simple fire pan is used in schools, hospitals and offices. Such a pan or brazier, using charcoal as the fuel, is made of brass or iron, sometimes put under a protecting cage for safety.

The handwarmer and footwarmer made of brass, which first appeared during the Tang Dynasty(618-907), are still used by some people. Charcoal is burned slowly amidst ashes in the handwarmer which, protected by an outer frame, may be carried inside the loose sleeves of a traditional dress. Recently, Beijing has developed a mini-handwarmer made of aluminium. It is a small oval box lined with asbestos and burns a specially treated charcoal. The small size makes it much easier to carry about.

The footwarmer is larger than the handwarmer and is more often made of brass than iron. Its cover is perforated with many holes to allow the heat to come up to warm the feet which rest on it.

Also counted in the category of warmers are various types of hotwater bottles. The rubber bottle is not indigenous to China where, traditionally, such bottles are made of brass, iron or porcelain. Filled with hot water, they may be used during the day or put under quilts for the night as welcome bedfellows for the elderly.

In the apartment houses newly built in the north, modern heating facilities are installed as a rule, a small number even using solar energy. The various stoves and warmers are being replaced gradually by electric or infrared radiation heaters.