"The real issue that divides Chinese people is the different winter heating policies in southern and northern China," goes an online joke which highlights a sad reality.

A policy set up in the 1950s etched a border along the Qinling Mountains all the way to the Huaihe River, which geographically separates the country into northern and southern areas. This became a line separating areas with two different heating policies.

Residents in northern China have received generous central heating services during the winter months, including extensive subsidies, while their counterparts in southern regions shiver through the chill.

The policy was a reflection of the country's economic situation 60 years ago, however, many are asking whether it is still relevant to the changing climate and modern China.

Out of date

Solace Wei, a New York-based researcher with the United Nations who is originally from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, described her hometown winter memories as "miserable." "You feel even colder indoors because of the humidity and people often get sick."

Wei's story is echoed by millions of people from southern China. According to a survey by the Guangzhou Daily in 2012, some 80 percent of the respondents called for central heating in areas south of the boundary along the Qinling Mountains and the Huaihe River.

The national policy stipulated that regions north of the boundary receive central heating due to their longer winter, which last for at least 90 days. Meteorologically, a winter day is defined when the average daily temperature falls below 5 C.

In this sense, southern China has a warmer and shorter winter which theoretically people should be able to endure.

However, the reality is that the standard is outdated. Provinces including Guizhou and Hunan have reported more than 90 winter days in recent years, as the humidity rises by 10 percent, leading to a temperature drop of 1 C. Catastrophic snows and sleet across 20 regions in China in 2008 provided more proof.

The low temperatures can cause serious health problems. Ge Junbo, a Shanghai-based cardiologist, said that outpatient and emergency cases surge during winter in southern China and people are more likely to suffer from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. British researchers have also found that there are increased instances of heart attacks when the temperature falls to 12 C or lower, while the indoor temperature in southern China often falls below 10 C in winter.

In the face of public demands, Zhang Xiaomei, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, submitted a proposal in March requesting that the central heating area be broadened. "It could boost domestic demand, increase employment, improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions."

Heated demands

Residents in southern areas of the country normally resort to using air conditioning, electric heaters or floor heating in winter, which can push electricity bills past 3,000 yuan ($481) for periods of up to three months.

Zhong, general manager of the Jiangxi Branch of the Heilongjiang-based Zhonghui Floor Heating, told the Global Times that the company has installed their products in over 200 households in Pingxiang, Jiangxi Province.

The infrared heating system comes at a price of around 600 yuan per month for a 100-square-meter apartment, which is around a third cheaper than using air conditioning.

"Many elderly people pass away every winter because of the cold, so people bought it for their parents," Zhong said, adding that floor heating can increase indoor temperatures to 22 C.

A government-led project to provide better heating services to residents was launched in Wuhan, Hubei Province, in 2005. The Dewn Group, a private company won the bid. However, its services rely heavily on the heat from the local Qingshan power plant under the State-owned enterprise (SOE) China Guodian Corporation, which has raised prices since 2007.

Kai Hua, a program manager from Dewn, said they have shortened the scheduled heating period for two weeks this year because of the ongoing price negotiations. "Without a secure heat source, we are still testing the heating from December 15, some 15 days later than usual. The city is coordinating the project but sometimes they cannot deal with an SOE."

Several real estate developers in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, have also publicized the fact that their communities use "ground source heat pumps" which conduct heat from the soil. "This technology can create a constant temperature and humidity, and costs 1.95 yuan per square meter," said a sales representative with Chengwanglidu, a residential community.

Energy concerns

Qiu Baoxing, vice minister of housing and urban-rural development, said that central heating could not simply be expanded as it could be a threat to the energy supply.

According to research by Tsinghua University, electricity used for heating in regions without central heating skyrocketed to 39 billion kilowatt-hours in 2010, up from less than 100 million in 1996.

Zhao Yang, professor of architecture with Shenzhen University, said buildings in southern China have thinner walls and bigger windows to improve ventilation, which means their insulation is weaker and renovations would come at a massive cost. "Many architects in southern regions even don't know how to design buildings with central heating."

Jiang Yi, professor of architecture with Tsinghua University, told the Global Times that heating is definitely needed in southern China, but not central heating, which might increase the country's energy consumption of buildings by around 4 percent.

Jiang is also concerned about energy consumption. "Southern residents are used to opening their windows, which would drain more energy than heating the same amount of space in northern regions where there are sealed windows."

Southern cities make use of various methods such as heat pumps or air circulation to reduce energy loss. "These are highly efficient as they use the abundant local resources and less coal," Jiang said.

Infrastructure is another problem. "The prospect of building new thermal power plants and pipelines, which have much shorter shelf-lives, needs serious consideration," said Chen Zhenlou, a professor of resources and environmental science with the East China Normal University.

These thoughts were also echoed by some officials. Zhang Kebing, deputy director of the energy-saving office of the Nanjing economic and information commission, told the Global Times that the city does not have plans for central heating for households to control energy consumption.

Zhong said that they found during the promotion of their floor heating services that price is a big concern, a sentiment backed by Jiang. "Central heating ignores individual opinions. Some say it's expensive and some say that northern China gets it for free. Regardless, heating is a matter which will require government subsidies."