Read by Pan Huirun & Zou Minghao, BGM by Asher Fulero

Winter-Time

Robert Louis Stevenson

Late lies the wintry sun a-bed,

A frosty, fiery sleepy-head;

Blinks but an hour or two; and then,

A blood-red orange, sets again.

Before the stars have left the skies,

At morning in the dark I rise;

And shivering in my nakedness,

By the cold candle, bathe and dress.

Close by the jolly fire I sit

To warm my frozen bones a bit;

Or with a reindeer-sled, explore

The colder countries round the door.

When to go out, my nurse doth wrap

Me in my comforter and cap;

The cold wind burns my face, and blows

Its frosty pepper up my nose.

Black are my steps on silver sod;

Thick blows my frosty breath abroad;

And tree and house, and hill and lake,

Are frosted like a wedding cake.

Major Snow, the 21st solar term which begins this year on December 7 and ends on December 20, indicates the precipitations in midwinter across China. In this period, the temperature continues to drop significantly with increasing snowfalls and rainfalls. Fog will occur frequently as heavy precipitations humidify the near-surface air. 

Are we going to see some snow this year? It is a thought that crosses the mind of many southerners in China around this time every year.

Snowflakes, unlike those fluffy ones in the north, will be likely to have melted by the time they touch the ground in southern China. But when blasts of frigid air howl their way to the south and pass the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the southern residents may finally be able to see some sleet. 

In this solar term, the Chinese have mutton soup and roasted sweet potatoes to help the body resist moisture and the cold, and keep chilblains at bay.