Before I came to the U.S., I never used a dryer. Unlike a washer, a dryer is not a must in most Chinese families.

We prefer to hang clothes or put it on a flat surface, in other words, let them dry naturally. However, that doesn’t necessarily say that we put whatever clothes outside of the buildings for others to see. More and more buildings in China have enclosed balconies, with settings that you can lower down, or raise up, to hang your clothes.

In many American movies, usually if a scene is set in a Chinatown, you almost always see lots of clothes hanging in between buildings. That almost has become a symbol, which I have really complicated feelings about. I have an impression that in the U.S., people find hanging clothes out disturbing.

When there’s nobody’s watching, I still like putting clothes out when it’s sunny once in a while. The sun makes them puffy and comfortable, and gives them “the smell of sun” :)