The 20th Solar Term - Minor Snow

Minor Snow / Light Snow

When the sun reaches the celestial longitude of 240 degrees on November 22 to November 23 each year, it’s the time for “Light Snow”.

小雪通常是在每年的11月22日到11月23日。这时候太阳到达天文经度240度。

Some areas along the Yellow River start to snow. It’s usually light snow, freezing in the night and melting in the morning. The soil is not cold enough, and snow can’t accumulate a lot on the ground. During this period, the rainbow is gone since it doesn’t rain anymore.

这个时候黄河一带开始下雪，通常是小雪，到了夜晚就会结冰，第二天便会融化。这个时候土壤还不够冷，不能形成积雪，这段时间，就不会再出现降雨，也就没有彩虹了。

Traditional food for this day is glutinous rice cake. In ancient times, glutinous rice cake is traditional sacrificial offerings. It’s used by farmers to sacrifice for the “God of Ox”. Nowadays, it’s a popular food in south China. After this day, farmers also start to make preserved meat, to eat in the coming Spring Festival.

在这一天要吃传统食物糯米糕。在古代，糯米糕是祭祀使用的，是农民用来供奉“牛神”的。到了现在，糯米糕成了中国南方很流行的食物。在小雪之后，农民往往就会开始做腌肉，来准备第二年春天食用。

In order to prevent blood viscosity from increasing, it’s better to eat food which can protect vascular, such as hawthorn, black fungus, tomato and celery. Food like balsam pear, corn, buckwheat and carrots can also reduce blood fat. When it’s cold and damp outside, it’s good to eat some temperately tonifying foods such as beef and mutton.

为了防止血液黏稠度上升，做好吃一些保护血管的食物，例如山楂，黑木耳，番茄和芹菜，香梨和玉米、麦片以及胡萝卜这样的食物也能降低血脂。当外界环境湿冷的时候，最好吃些牛羊肉来滋补身体。