Ice container

《周礼·凌人》记载：“春始治鉴，凡外内饔之膳羞鉴焉，凡酒浆之酒醴亦如之，祭祀共冰鉴。”冰鉴是一个装满冰块的陶器或青铜器，可以看做是古代的冰箱，将食物/饮料放入冰鉴内，盖上盖子，过一会儿食物/饮料就会变凉。

The most commonly used cooling utensil is called "Jian", which is a big container filled with ice. It was made of ceramic in early Chinese history, and was later made of copper. The "Jian" can be seen as an ancient refrigerator, which can be used to make cold drinks. Put the vessel holding food inside the "Jian", close the lid, and the drinks would become cold after a while.

那冰鉴中的冰块又是哪来的呢？据儒家经典《周礼》记载，周王室有一个叫“冰政”的专门机构，工人们在冬天凿取冰块，运到冰窖中储存。

According to the record in the Confucian classic Zhou Rites, the Zhou royal court had a specialized department called the "ice administration" which had 80 employees. The department collected natural ice blocks each December, and then transported them to the ice house for storage.

Porcelain Pillow

李清照在《醉花阴》中提到的“玉枕”，指的就是色质如玉的青白瓷枕，这也是一件消暑利器。古代的枕头一开始是由石头制成，后来使用的材料扩展到木头、玉器、青铜、竹子和瓷器。令人惊讶的是，在所有材质中，瓷枕的使用最为广泛。

Chinese ancient pillows were first made of natural stones and later the materials used extended to wood, jade, bronze, bamboo and porcelain. Surprisingly, among all these pillows, porcelain pillows were most widely used.

瓷枕的表面是一层釉面，触感凉爽宜人。据说清朝乾隆皇帝就非常喜欢瓷枕，还特意赋诗一首：“瓷枕通灵气，全胜玳与珊。眠云浑不觉，梦蝶更应安。”

The surface of a porcelain pillow is a layer of glaze, which feels pleasantly cool. It is said that the Emperor Qianlong in Qing Dynasty liked his porcelain pillow a lot and even wrote a poem about it.

Cool Architecture

古代，人们还常常在湖水周围建造“凉屋”，在周遭栽种些花草树木以达到湿润空气、遮荫纳凉的目的。

In ancient times, living quarters were often built around artificial lakes and reservoirs, and flowers and plants were added to increase the moisture in the air and provide shade.

据传，南宋时期的皇帝常在“翠寒堂”避暑。那里有夏莲修竹，浓翠蔽日，寒瀑飞空。数十冰盆放置在寝宫内，极为清爽。有史记载，淳熙十二年盛夏，翰林学士洪迈接受宋孝宗召见，竟被冻得浑身打寒颤，宋孝宗因此赐他一件外套御寒。

During the Southern Song dynasty (1127 – 1279), the emperor often spent summers in his "green cold palace" where bamboo, lotus flowers and other plants were cultivated, and a large man-made waterfall ran to reduce the heat. Dozens of gold basins were filled with ice from the imperial ice store, and placed in the palace and the emperor's bedroom. Hong Mai, a scholar, apparently felt so cold in the imperial palace in summer that Emperor Xiaozong had servants fetch him a coat, according to Song records.