小寒：做一回候鸟 | 24 Solar Terms: Xiaohan (Lesser Cold)

2021年1月5日，即农历十一月廿二，是一年中第二十三个节气，也是2021年的第一个节气——小寒。“冷气积久而为寒，小者，未至极也”。虽未至极点，但对于中国大部分地区来说，小寒正值“三九”（今年1月8日起）前后，标志着一年中最冷的日子即将到来。

Xiaohan (Lesser Cold) is the 23rd solar term of the 24 traditional Chinese solar terms and the first one in 2021, starting from January 5. Lesser Cold implies that the cold air accumulation hasn’t reached its peak; however, as it usually arrives around the 3rd nine-day periods following the Winter Solstice, it marks the beginning of the coldest days of the year for most areas of China.

糯米饭 Glutinous rice / Nayuta

菜饭 Mixed vegetable rice / Chinadaily

吃菜饭 / 糯米饭 Eating mixed vegetable rice / glutinous rice

小寒时节，南京人一般会煮菜饭吃。矮脚黄、香肠、板鸭等南京特产，配上生姜粒与糯米一起煮，香鲜可口。广州人则要在早上吃糯米饭。六成糯米、四成香米，搭配腊肉和腊肠丁、花生米、碎葱白，拌在饭里面吃，这样作为早餐也不会过于黏糯。糯米养胃，含糖量又高，吃后身体就会感觉暖和，有利于散湿驱寒。

The custom of eating mixed vegetable rice during Xiaohan is still followed today in Nanjing. Aijiaohuang (a kind of green vegetable), sausage, salted duck and other Nanjing specialties are added in the rice with ginger. The Cantonese eat glutinous rice in the morning. Fried preserved pork, sausage, peanuts and chopped scallion stalks are mixed into 60% glutinous rice and 40% fragrant rice so that it would not be too sticky as breakfast. According to the theories of Traditional Chinese Medicine, glutinous rice has the effect of tonifying the spleen and stomach in the cold season.

视频由新华社CNC提供

Video provided by China Xinhua News Network Corporation

一年中最寒冷的日子到来，北方天地封冻，中国南端的城市海南三亚却温暖如春，成为来自北方，主要是东北的“候鸟”们理想的避寒之地。在同样略显阴郁的瑞典冬日里，让我们走进三亚热带滨海的阳光、碧海、白沙之间，期待疫情过去，也要做一次海南的“候鸟”。

When the coldest days of the year come, northern China is in severe cold, while Sanya, a city in Hainan province in southern China, remains as warm as spring. Hence, it becomes an ideal place for people from North China, mainly northeast provinces, to escape to during the harsh winter, like “migratory birds”. In the same gloomy winter days in Sweden, let’s take a stroll on Sanya’s tropical seashore, where sunshine, blue sea and white sand await your visit after the pandemic!