今日小雪：你应该知道的7件事(双语）
The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Minor Snow, (Chinese: 小雪), the 20th solar term of the year, begins this year on Nov 22 and ends on Dec 6.
中国传统的农历将一年分为24节气。小雪是一年中第20个节气，今年的小雪从11月22日开始，到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.
小雪指的是将要开始下雪--主要是中国北方地区、以及气温持续下降的时候。
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.
黄河一带开始下雪。通常是小雪，夜晚结冰到了第二天早上便融化了。土壤还不够寒冷，所以在地面上无法形成积雪。在这段时间，不再出现彩虹，因为不再降雨了。
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.
这一天的传统食物是糯米糕。在古代，糯米糕是祭祀供品。是农民们用来供奉“牛神”的。如今，它是中国南方很流行的食物。在小雪后，农民们也会开始做腌肉，准备来年春天食用。
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.
为了防止血粘度上升，最好吃些保护血管的食物，如山楂，黑木耳，番茄和芹菜。诸如香梨、玉米、麦片以及胡萝卜这样的食物同样能降低血脂。当外界湿冷的时候，最好吃些如牛羊肉这类稍微滋补的食物。
Here are seven things you should know about Minor Snow.
以下是关于小雪你应该知道的7件事。
Lightly snowy winter
轻雪迎冬来
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 of most areas in the north drops to zero degrees and below. While in the lower and middle reaches of the Yellow River, the average time of the first snow is in the Minor Snow solar term. The snow is light and frozen at night, but melts quickly during the day.
一本有关植物的中国古籍《群芳谱》说道：“小雪气寒而将雪矣，地寒未甚而雪未大也。”北方大部分地区的气温都降到了零度及以下。在黄河中下游地区，初雪的平均时间是在小雪这个节气。雪非常小，在晚上会凝结起来，但是白天又很快就会化掉。
Wearing hats and scarves
穿帽戴围巾
In China, starting in Minor Snow, the wind blows from the northeast a lot. Because it is not bitter yet, many people do not yet wear hats or scarves. In fact, according to an old Chinese saying, "the head is the place where all passages of the body gather". It is sensible to beware that one’s head can’t be frozen.
在中国，从小雪开始，从东北方向刮来的风就多了起来。因为风还不甚冷，所以许多人都还没有戴帽子、围围巾。但是，按中国一句老话来说：“头为诸阳之会。”小心注意头不要受凉是非常明智的。
Drinking soup
喝汤清内火
During Minor Snow, indoor heating begins to work. Thus the air indoors is dry and most people might feel their nose and mouth are dry. Their inner heat energy can’t get out. Symptoms appear, including dental ulcers or more pimples on a person’s face. The way to solve this problem is to drink more hot soup, such as cabbage with bean curd soup, spinach with bean curd soup and mutton with radish soup.
在小雪期间，室内供暖已经开始了。由于室内空气非常干燥，大多数人可能会觉得口鼻很干。人们的内火出不来。包括口腔溃疡、脸上长痘痘等症状就会出现。解决这一问题的办法就是多喝点儿热汤，例如白菜豆腐汤、菠菜豆腐汤、羊肉萝卜汤等。
Eating glutinous rice cake
吃香甜糍粑
In some areas of south China, people have glutinous rice cakes in the early 10th lunar month, which is around Minor Snow. In ancient times, glutinous rice cake was a traditional festival offering to the bull god used by peasants.
在中国南方一些地区，人们在农历十月初吃糍粑，这时大概就是小雪。古时候，糍粑是农民们献给“牛神”的一种传统节日祭品。
Making preserved pork
腌美味腊肉
After Minor Snow, the temperature declines sharply and the air becomes dry. It is the best time to start making preserved pork. Until the Chinese Spring Festival, it will be well made and enjoyed. In the past, when storage conditions were poor, people created many ways to store food. Preserved pork is one of them. Thus even in the bitter winter, the whole family could enjoy meat without going out. Some even say preserved pork tastes more delicious than fresh meat.
小雪过后，气温会急剧下降，空气也会变得干燥。正是开始腌制腊肉的最佳时间。到春节之前，这些腊肉会被腌制好，非常美味。在过去，当储存条件很差的时候，人们创造了许多方法来储存食物。腌制腊肉就是其中一种。如此一来，即使是在严寒的冬天，全家人也可以不用出门就享受美味的肉食。一些人甚至认为，腊肉比新鲜猪肉吃起来还要美味可口。
Making pickled vegetables
做可口泡菜
For thousands of years, the people of Nanjing, Jiangsu province have welcomed Minor Snow with pickled vegetables cooked in different ways.
几千年来，江苏南京的人们一直在用各种方法烹饪泡菜来迎接小雪。
Nanjing is known for its pickled vegetables. In the past, due to inconvenient transportation, vegetables sold in Nanjing were few and expensive. Thus people there made pickled vegetables for the winter.
南京以其泡菜而出名。在过去，由于交通不便，南京冬天卖的蔬菜又少又贵。于是那儿的人们就准备了泡菜来过冬。
Avoiding spicy food
忌辛辣食物
On cold days, people want to have some hot and spicy food to keep warm. Experts say that it is wise not to eat overly spicy food, since that will enhance inner heat.
在冷天，人们想吃一些又热又辣的食物来保持身体暖和。但是专家表示说不应该吃过于辛辣的食物，因为那可能会加重人体的内火。
来源：中国日报网、沪江英语
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