Something simple I'm really grateful for is having a reliable supply of hot water at home. It might sound silly, but I'm a sixty-three-year-old retired schoolteacher living in Lanzhou, in north-west China, and for most of my life that wasn't something I could take for granted.
I notice it most in winter, which is long and bitterly cold here. Every morning I turn the tap and warm water comes out straight away, and I still feel a little thrill. When I wash my face or my granddaughter has a bath before bed, I often think about it.
We've only had it properly for about fifteen years, since our family moved into a newer apartment block. Before that, in our old courtyard house, we had to boil water in kettles on a coal stove, and in really cold weather the pipes sometimes froze completely. As a child, I remember waiting in a queue at the public bathhouse once a week, holding a towel and a small bar of soap.
I'm grateful because hot water saves so much time and effort, especially for women, who used to do most of the boiling, washing and carrying. My mother spent hours every week on it. Now that time can be spent reading, resting or playing with grandchildren. It also makes a big difference to health. Older people like me are less likely to catch colds when we can keep warm and clean. My granddaughter can't imagine life without it, and sometimes I tell her these stories. She thinks I'm exaggerating, but I want her to understand how lucky she is.