凱倫

The traditional Chinese solar calendar di- vides 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.

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

Here are seven things you should know about Minor Snow.

Light snow

An ancient Chinese book about plants ex- plains 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 tem- perature in most areas in the north drops to zero degrees and below. Meanwhile， in the lower and middle reaches of the Yellow River， the av- erage time of the first snow falls during the Mi- nor Snow solar term. The snow is light and fro- zen 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 be- gins 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 prob- lems， including oral ulcers and breakouts. The solution is to drink more hot soup， such as cab- bage 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 around Minor Snow. In an- cient times， glutinous rice cakes were a tradi- tional festival offering to the bull god.

Making preserved pork

After Minor Snow， the temperature de- clines 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 exam- ple. So even in the bitter winter， the whole fami- ly could enjoy meat. Some even say preserved pork tastes more delicious than fresh meat.

Making pickled vegetables

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

Nanjing is known for its pickled vegeta- bles. In the past， due to inconvenient transporta- tion， vegetables sold in Nanjing were few and expensive. Thus people there made pickled veg- etables 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.

農(nóng)歷將一年劃分為24個節(jié)氣。小雪是第20個節(jié)氣。今年的小雪從11月22日開始，12月6日結(jié)束。

小雪指的是開始下雪（多半是在北方）的時節(jié)，在這期間氣溫會繼續(xù)下降。

一起來了解一下關于小雪的7個小常識。

小雪

古籍《群芳譜》有云：“小雪氣寒而將雪矣，地寒未甚而雪未大也。”北方大部分地區(qū)氣溫會降到零度以下。與此同時，黃河中下游地區(qū)將會在小雪節(jié)氣前后降下初雪。雪下得不大，夜里凍住的積雪一到白天就迅速融化。

戴上帽子和圍巾

從小雪節(jié)氣開始，東北風刮得多了，但這時還不是特別冷，很多人都還沒戴帽子或圍巾。事實上，中國古語有云，人體的各條經(jīng)絡都匯聚于頭部。因此做好頭部保暖很明智。

喝湯

小雪時節(jié)室內(nèi)開著暖氣，這意味著室內(nèi)空氣干燥，大多數(shù)人可能都會覺得口鼻有點干。傳統(tǒng)中醫(yī)認為，內(nèi)熱積聚易引發(fā)口腔潰瘍和長痘等毛病。解決辦法是多喝熱湯，比如白菜豆腐湯、菠菜豆腐湯、羊肉蘿卜湯等。

吃年糕

在南方的一些地區(qū)，人們會在小雪前后吃年糕。年糕在古代是用來祭牛神的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日供品。

制作腌肉

小雪節(jié)氣后，氣溫驟降，空氣干燥。這是開始制作過年吃的腌肉的最好時機。過去儲存條件差，人們研究出了很多保存食物的方法，腌肉就是其中之一。這樣即使是在嚴冬，一家人也可以享用肉食。有些人甚至認為，腌肉比鮮肉更為美味。

制作腌菜

數(shù)千年來，南京人用各式腌菜迎接小雪節(jié)氣的到來。

南京以腌菜聞名。過去，由于交通不便，南京賣的蔬菜品種少價格高，于是南京人冬天就制作腌菜。

少吃辣食

天冷的時候，人們可能會想吃一些熱乎乎的辛辣食物，讓身子暖和起來。專家認為，最好不要吃太辣的食物，因為這會增加內(nèi)熱。