小雪将至：关于小雪的7个小常识 24 Solar Terms: 7 things you may not know about Minor Snow

The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Minor Snow, the 20th solar term of the year, begins this year on Nov 22 and ends on Dec 6.

中国传统二十四节气的第20个节气是小雪，今年的小雪从11月22日开始，12月6日结束。

Minor Snow refers to the time when it starts to snow, mostly in China's northern areas, and the temperature continues to drop.

小雪指的是开始下雪（多半是在北方）的时节，在这期间气温会继续下降。

Here are seven things you should know about Minor Snow.

一起来了解一下关于小雪的7个小常识。

Light snow

小雪

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.

古籍《群芳谱》有云：“小雪气寒而将雪矣，地寒未甚而雪未大也。”北方大部分地区气温会降到零度以下。与此同时，黄河中下游地区将会在小雪节气前后降下初雪。雪下得不大，夜里冻住的积雪一到白天就迅速融化。