"A tale of two worlds" — Phrase of the Week
Qingdao University students bake in dorms while staff enjoy air-conditioned offices
Our phrase of the week is: "a tale of two worlds" (冰火两重天 bīng huǒ liǎng chóng tiān)
Context
In early July, news spread on social media of the death of an elderly dormitory guard due to extreme heat at Qingdao University. Around the same time, reports emerged of students from the university and other schools across Shandong being hospitalised with heat stroke.
The story quickly gained traction online.
One widely shared image showed a thermometer reading 43.2°C, taken inside the office of the guard who had died. Other photos shared online showed groups of students squatting in aisles in local air-conditioned supermarkets, and camping in shaded spots in uni grounds, to escape the heat.
Students pointed to the stark contrast in living conditions: while university leaders and teaching staff worked in air-conditioned offices, student dormitories had no cooling at all—including the room where the guard had died.
In the following days, media inquiries to the university were met with evasive responses, and censors began removing some comments and articles. This put even more heat into the online conversation, which continued to trend on social media.
One of the most-read articles, which is still available online, used a clever play on a popular idiom in its headline:
“University exposed: one air conditioner uncovers a tale of two worlds"
高校“冰火两重天” ：一个空调“照妖”出俩世界
gāo xiào “bīng huǒ liǎng chóng tiān”: yí ge kōng tiáo “zhào yāo” chū liǎ shì jiè
And with that, we have our Sinica Phrase of the Week.
What it means
"A tale of two worlds" literally translates as “fire, ice" (冰火), and "two layers of heaven" (两重天).
It’s a widely used idiom, but unlike many which are rooted in ancient stories, this one is relatively young and began life around 25 years ago in the video game, Warcraft III (魔兽争霸).
Warcraft is a real-time strategy game developed by U.S. studio Blizzard Entertainment. The game entered China in the early 2000s via local distributor NetEase (网易). It quickly gained a huge fan base in China, and was instrumental in the early development of China’s booming esports scene alongside other titles like League of Legends (英雄联盟).
In fact, these two foreign video games have had an enormous impact on modern Chinese language, with many common daily-use phrases starting in foreign video games.
The phrase "fire and ice, two layers of heaven" originally referred to a famous move in Warcraft III, where two powerful spells—the “Blizzard” (暴风雪) and the “Flame Strike” (烈焰风暴)—were cast simultaneously, forcing the opponent to suffer through extremes of cold and heat. The victims were often said to be “enjoying” the two extremes.
Today, the idiom has taken on a broader meaning. It’s used to describe situations of stark contrast—such as mood swings, weather shifts, or social inequality—occurring in the same place or time.
In the media coverage around the lack of air conditioning at Qingdao University, the metaphor takes on a extra level of meaning: while students and the dorm guard endured sweltering "heat" (火) with no air conditioning, the school’s leadership and staff worked in "cool" (冰), air-conditioned offices.
They are living in two completely different worlds.
Andrew Methven is the author of RealTime Mandarin, a resource which helps you bridge the gap to real-world fluency in Mandarin, stay informed about China, and communicate with confidence—all through weekly immersion in real news. Subscribe for free here.
Read more from RealTime Mandarin: