【24节气英语说】小雪 Minor Snow

"小雪气寒而将雪矣，地寒未甚而雪未大也"
小雪，是二十四节气中的第20个节气。时间在每年公历11月22或23日，即太阳到达黄经240°时。小雪节气是一个气候概念，它代表的是小雪节气期间的气候特征；而天气预报中的小雪是指降雪强度较小的雪。小雪节气是寒潮和强冷空气活动频数较高的节气。
小雪节气，我国东部会出现大范围大风降温天气。由于全球气候变暖，我国南方部分地区降雪会稍晚，而北方，已进入寒冰封冻季节。

24 Solar Terms: 7 things you may not know about Minor Snow
The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Minor Snow, (Chinese: 小雪), the 20th solar term of the year, begins this year on Nov 22 and ends on Dec 6.
Minor Snow refers to the time when it starts to snow, mostly in China's northern areas, and the temperature continues to drop. Here are seven things you should know about Minor Snow.

Light snow
An ancient Chinese book about plants explains that "in Minor Snow, the weather is cold and it is going to snow, while the earth is not frozen enough and the snow is light." 

The temperature in most areas in the north drops to zero degrees and below. Meanwhile, in the lower and middle reaches of the Yellow River, the average time of the first snow falls during the Minor Snow solar term. The snow is light and frozen at night, but melts quickly during the day.

Wearing hats and scarves
In China, starting in Minor Snow, the wind blows from the northeast a lot. Because it’s still not bitterly cold, many people do not wear hats or scarves yet. In fact, according to an old Chinese saying, "the head is the place where all passages of the body gather". It’s sensible to keep one's head warm.

Drinking soup
During Minor Snow, indoor heating begins to work, which means the air indoors is dry and most people might find their nose and mouth feels a bit dry. 

According to practices in traditional Chinese medicine, this accumulation of "inner heat" in one's body can cause problems, including oral ulcers and breakouts. The solution is to drink more hot soup, such as cabbage and bean curd soup, spinach and bean curd soup, and mutton and radish soup.

Eating glutinous rice cake
In some areas of South China, people have glutinous rice cakes in the early 10th lunar month, which is around Minor Snow. In ancient times, glutinous rice cakes were a traditional festival offering to the bull god.


Making preserved pork
After Minor Snow, the temperature declines sharply and the air becomes dry. It is the best time to start making preserved pork, which by the Chinese Spring Festival would be ready to enjoy. 

In the past, when storage conditions were poor, people developed many ways to store food and preserved pork is one such example. So even in the bitter winter, the whole family could enjoy meat. Some even say preserved pork tastes more delicious than fresh meat.

Making pickled vegetables
For thousands of years, the people of Nanjing, Jiangsu province, have welcomed Minor Snow with pickled vegetables made in different ways.

Nanjing is known for its pickled vegetables. In the past, due to inconvenient transportation, vegetables sold in Nanjing were few and expensive. Thus people there made pickled vegetables for the winter.

Avoiding spicy food
On cold days, people may crave some hot and spicy food to keep warm. Experts say it’s wise not to eat overly spicy food, since that will increase your inner heat.

主播：Jocelyn Eikenburg

剪辑：韩鹤

编辑：马芮

文稿来源：中国日报网文化频道

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