What's the buzz

Does southern China need a heating system? As the cold weather continues to freeze the south of the country, people are calling on the government to introduce northern China's central heating model to southern China, especially the vast areas along the Yangtze River. However, there are those who say it would be too difficult and too expensive and would only waste energy. What's your opinion? China Daily's mobile phone news readers share their views:

I am from the North and now live in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Though I complained about the winter a lot when I first arrived here, I cannot agree with public heating in the South. It would be a huge project to build heat-supply pipelines and the operation and maintenance of the relevant facilities would have to be carried out during the entire year even though the heating would only be supplied three months at most. This would make the cost far higher than in the North. Also, the heating fees would be almost as much as the electricity fee for using an air conditioner as a heater. Therefore, it is better we figure out a more economical and environmentally friendly way to solve the heating problem in the South.

A READER, Hangzhou, Zhejiang province