Ning Bo/Shanghai Daily news

People angry over power failures in their homes on one of the hottest days of the year protested by blocking a street in Pudong New Area yesterday.
The lights went out in more than 1,000 families' homes in Tianchi Residential Complex in Pudong on Monday night. Power was not restored until four hours later around 1:30am yesterday.
Residents were angry that the power company failed to fix the problem quickly. Hundreds took to the street and blocked traffic on nearby Lianyuan Road.
"They were just trying to get their problems noticed in hopes it would be dealt with more seriously," explained a Tianchi Complex resident named Shen Ping, who did not participate in the protest.
Police were called to the scene. They blocked a bigger section of the road and maintained order. No injuries or vandalism was reported.
One witness said the protesters refused to leave the scene because their homes were too hot without the use of fans or air conditioners.
Temperatures hit 38.3 degrees Celsius yesterday afternoon, forcing weathermen to issue a black hot alert for the fifth straight day.
The city has experienced 11 consecutive "extremely hot" days with temperatures above 35 degrees.
The scorching weather pushed the peak grid load to a new high yesterday at 16.64 million kilowatts, the fifth time the record has been broken in the past two weeks. High demand stretched the grid, causing blackouts in many areas.
Similar protests occurred on Monday night on Yongxing Road of Zhabei District and Xietu Road, Xuhui District.
More than 300 families on Xietu Road had appliances break down due to unsteady voltages.
"The voltage suddenly rose from 220 volts to 380 volts at 9pm, burning the wires of many electric appliances in almost every home, including the air conditioners," said Zhao Linshen, a resident who lives in a 15-story apartment building on Xietu Road.