Recently, multiple provinces in China have experienced high temperatures, and from 6 p.m. on July 15, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the China Meteorological Administration jointly issued a high-temperature health risk alert.
In Zhengzhou, Henan Province, road surface temperatures reportedly exceeded 72°C, with many areas surpassing 40°C. Some Chinese media reporters conducted live experiments in the streets of Zhengzhou, frying eggs and roasting shrimp under the sun. After one hour of exposure, the thermometer maxed out at over 50°C, shrimp turned red from gray, and part of the egg whites solidified.
According to circulating online videos, when reporters broke a raw egg onto a pan placed on the asphalt road in Zhengzhou, the egg sizzled immediately and the egg white began to turn white. The butter on the pan also melted; as for the shrimp and bacon, the shrimp turned red after about three minutes and the bacon was cooked in around ten minutes. This high-temperature experiment quickly became a trending topic.
Meteorological experts explained that a combination of subtropical high pressure and the urban heat island effect has turned the city’s roads into natural teppanyaki grills.
The Zhengzhou Meteorological Observatory has been issuing red alerts for several consecutive days, and temperatures above 40°C are severely testing the city’s infrastructure. Just 10 minutes of outdoor sun exposure can cause a burning sensation on the skin. Couriers and food delivery workers say it feels "like delivering parcels in a steamer," and some road sections have even shown signs of asphalt softening.
Experts warn that such extreme weather can trigger a chain reaction: electrical loads will surge, cases of heatstroke will rise, and traffic hazards may increase. Currently, Zhengzhou has adopted measures such as staggered work schedules and increased frequency of water trucks, but fundamentally improving the city’s heat resilience remains an unsolved challenge.