In the heat of the night ... 1,000 Chinese rail travellers sleep outside in square to beat station’s lack of air conditioning

More than 1,000 Chinese railway passengers chose to sleep in the public square outside a city station on Saturday because the indoor waiting area does not have air conditioning, mainland media report.

The passengers, many of them men who had stripped off their shirts, lay on blankets or mattresses and used their luggage as pillows outside Zhengzhou station, in Henan province, the news portal Qq.com reported.

Some of the passengers chose to spend their time playing games of poker, looking at their smartphones, or eating instant noodles, but most appeared to be sound sleep.

Piles of rubbish, including takeaway food boxes and plastic bottles were left littering the ground, the report said.