A dismantled hoarding provides some respite from the glare of the sun to a pedestrian seeking shade. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

The mercury touched 36.1 Celsius last Sunday — Hong Kong’s highest recorded temperature in July in 138 years. Intrepid residents stepping out under the full glare of an unforgiving sun put their own time-tested — and ingenious — ways of coping with the heatwave to good use. As they say, come rain or scalding-hot weather, residents have the resilience to withstand the most extreme of challenges. 

A woman in a swimming suit enjoys a chilled drink from a 7-Eleven in Repulse Bay on Hong Kong Island. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

A driver takes a break after a sweltering journey at Sham Shui Po, Kowloon. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

A water fountain in Tung Chung provides welcome relief from the heat in the midst of blazing-hot concrete surroundings. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

Intrepid sunbathers like this man endure the heat at Anglers’ Beach in Sham Tseng in Tsuen Wan district. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

Pedestrians step into a scorching white band of heat in Central. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

Mother and child feel the heat as they wait for a green light at a Sham Shui Po crossing. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

A car, shaded from the sun, in Prince Edward, Kowloon. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

A refashioned cardboard box serves as a hat for this recycler in Mong Kok. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)