According to the traditional Chinese calendar, there are 24 solar terms in a year. The 24 solar terms were created thousands of years ago to guide agriculture production (农业生产). But solar term culture is still useful today to guide people’s lives through cultural activities and special foods that go with each term.
There are six solar terms in winter. They are beginning of winter, light snow, heavy snow, winter solstice (冬至), lesser cold (小寒) and greater cold.
Beginning of winter usually falls on November 7th or 8th. After beginning of winter, most parts of the country can start to expect cold weather. On this day, after a year of hard work, people are happy to have a rest and spend time with family. The northern China celebrates beginning of winter as the “Small Spring Festival”. People usually have dumplings on the day.
Light snow usually falls on November 22nd or 23rd and heavy snow is on December 7th or 8th. When winter solstice comes, it brings the shortest days of the year and the longest nights. Many places around the country can expect the coldest weather. People often start counting “nine cold periods” starting from winter solstice. Every cold period has nine days. People believe that after 81 cold days, spring will come.
Greater cold comes after lesser cold. The field is covered with snow. All Chinese are ready to welcome the Spring Festival after it. Of course, a new round of solar terms will start.
【小题1】How many solar terms are there in winter?There are
【小题2】How do people celebrate beginning of winter?
They celebrate it by
【小题3】When is light snow?
It’s usually
【小题4】What does the underlined “it” in the fourth paragraph refer to?
It refers to
【小题5】According to the passage, which solar term is the last one in a year?
