Take what I say with a big grain of salt because I’m just an onlooker, but from what I’ve heard housing is incredibly unaffordable in the desireable cities like Beijing and Shanghai, like $600000 for a 2bdrm when the median salary is $20000. It’s a speculative investment whose bubble has burst but prices are still super inflated.
Not to mention, for a naturally aspirated IC engine, you actually make more power in cold weather due to it being more thermodynamically efficient with a colder intake. (This is the reason why an intercooler increases the power output of a tuner car.)