A porcelain pillow from the Song Dynasty (960-1279) at the National Museum of China.

Porcelain pillows

The ancient Chinese knew how to make use of China's famous porcelain besides making plates and bowls. The quality of porcelain gave the pillow a smooth and cool surface.

Herbal tea, made of ingredients with cooling properties, is a popular summer drink to diffuse internal heat. Photos provided to China Daily

Cooling food

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) classifies foods according to their nature. Foods with a warming nature can balance the coldness in one's body, while foods with a cooling nature, such as watermelon, plum juice and lotus seeds, were popular summer eats.

 

Using a fan

Electricity did not exist in the ancient world so people manually fanned themselves with paper- or textile-made fans. China has been dubbed the "kingdom of fans" for many years. Fans were not always tools for cooling oneself, but also were symbols of status and taste.

Women dressed in ancient Chinese costumes practice ink painting in Suzhou, Jiangsu province on April 15, 2006. Photo by Wang Jiankang / Asianewsphoto

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