1 . The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides a year into 24 solar terms (节气). Cold Dew (寒露), the 17th solar term of the year, begins this year on Oct. 8 and ends on Oct. 23. At this time, the dew is greater and colder and there will be less rain. Autumn crops will be ripe. Here are three things you should know about Cold Dew.

Foggy autumn

Temperatures drop significantly in October. When the cold air encounters autumn rain, the abundant water vapor in the air soon reaches saturation (饱和状态), and then it turns into fog. When the humidity is high, there will be foggy regions formed in many areas of China.

Season for fishing

People always say that fishing in shallow water in autumn makes sense. That’s because during the Cold Dew period, temperatures decrease quickly and sunshine doesn’t reach deep water thoroughly. Fish swim to shallow water areas where the water temperature is relatively high.

Season for drinking chrysanthemum (菊花) wine

Chrysanthemum is the iconic flower of Cold Dew. To prevent autumn dryness, many regions in China have the custom of drinking chrysanthemum wine. This is a tradition of the Double Ninth Festival, which often falls around Cold Dew. According to ancient records, drinking wine made with chrysanthemums, poria cocos mushroom and pine oleoresin grants (给予) people long-lasting youth.

2 . End of Heat, the 14th solar term of the year, implies that most parts in China are getting rid of the hot summer and entering autumn.     1    

Enjoying clouds

When the End of Heat comes, summer heat is gone. Clouds in the sky scatter around forming different shapes. There is a saying that goes, “Enjoying the clouds of various forms in July and August (lunar month).”

Autumn weariness

There is a saying that goes, “People tend to feel sleepy in spring, doze in summer and feel tired in autumn.” As the weather becomes cool during End of Heat, many people will feel tired and weary, which is called “autumn weariness”.     2     Get enough sleep, do more exercises and keep plants indoor to help.

Eating Duck

Duck has a sweet flavor and according to traditional Chinese medicine it has a “cool” nature.     3     There are many recipes for cooking duck such as roast duck, cooked duck with lemon, smoked duck with walnut dressing and sautéed duck with ginger shoots. The tradition of eating duck during the End of Heat period is still popular in China.

The Fishing Season Festival

    4     During this period, the Fishing Season Festival is held in regions along the coastline of the East China Sea in Zhejiang Province. The festival is held on the day when the fishing ban ends and fishermen can start fishing again. Due to high temperatures in the sea, stocks of fish remain and become mature.     5    

4 . When the leaves begin to change their colors and the birds head south, we know the season is starting to change. On September 7 comes White Dew (白露), the 15th solar term (节气) of the year. It indicates (标志着) the beginning of the cool autumn. As the temperature falls, white dew is often seen on the grass and trees at night.

For w riters and poets, autumn is a difficult season to describe. It ’s the end of the summer, and therefore a little sad. The days seem to get shorter, and when you wake in the morning, t here’s mist(薄雾) and it’s cooler. Winter is just around the corner.

American writer Ernest Hemingway wrote in his book A Moveable Feast (《流动的盛宴》), “You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches (枝条) were bare (光秃秃的) against the wind and the cold, wintry light. ”

But on the other hand, autumn has its good side. There are so many changes at this time of year, such as the colorful leaves and cooler nights. French w riter Albert Camus even thought autumn was a second spring,   “when every leaf is a flower.” This view is also found in the most famous autumn poem in English literature, To Autumn by John Keats. In that poem, Keats says that autumn has its own songs, just like spring.

Another theme of this season is wisdom (智慧). The arrival of autumn is thought to be similar to a person becoming mature (成熟的).

The great Irish poet W.B. Yeats used this idea in his poem The Wild Swans at Coole (《库尔的野 天鹅》), writing about the changing seasons in Coole Park in the west of Ireland. Seeing and counting 59 swans, he remembers first making the count as a young man. Seeing the swans do the same thing for all those years, he’s reminded (提醒) that even though we get older, our hearts always stay the same age.

6 . Summer is a time to look forward to because there is no school to get you down.     1     . You just need to stay active, occupied, and have an open mind.

●Read if you feel bored

Subscribe to a magazine or comic if you don’t like books. Choose whatever age-appropriate book that interests you and start reading. You can read anywhere. In your backyard or on your balcony, on your bed, or out by the lake.     2     .

●Get caught up on schoolwork.

Not all of us are straight “A” students. Take this time to go to the library and review material for the next year in advance.     3     . No need to rush or stress out. It’s just important not to forget anything you learned in the past year over the summer.

●Travel.

    4     , start packing now! Can’t afford to travel far? No problem! Do some exploring in your own city. Go on a road trip with your friends and family. Find out what’s on the other side of that lake. Be creative!

●     5    

If summers are hot where you live, you can go to the beach with your family or friends. Also, some water parks have great discounts at times during the summer. But be careful, if there’s a heat wave outside, you’d better stay out of the sum, or even go indoors.

7 . The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Major Snow, the 21st solar term of the year, begins this year on Dec 7 and ends on Dec 20.     1    . Here are five things you should know.

Snowy winter

    2    , breaking tree branches and blocking the road. In the south, snowflakes fall and the world turns white. A proverb about the snow says, “A timely snow promises a good harvest”. As the snow covers the ground, the low winter temperature kills pests.

Appreciating plum blossoms

Plum blossoms usually flower in mid-to-late December in some southern cities of China, and sometimes bloom even earlier. The plum blossom is admired in Chinese culture for its toughness during severe winters.

Eating lamb

Lamb is a favorite food for Chinese people during Major Snow.     3    . People in Chongqing like to have potted lamb soup or stewed lamb soup with their families and friends.

Eating porridge

Hot porridge could help warm you and nourish (滋养) your body in cold weather. In China, it’s customary to eat red bean porridge on the first day of Major Snow.     4    , such as wheat porridge, sesame porridge, radish porridge, walnut porridge and tuckahoe porridge.

Preventing lung illness

During this period, Chinese people watch for outbreaks of lung illness, which can be prevented by properly drinking water. During Major Snow, it’s drier and colder, so people should drink more water. But you should not drink too much water at once.     5    .

8 . The woods are turning orange. Drifts of dry leaves are growing on forest floors and flying into street corners. From a distance, it is beautiful. But the air is still warm and summery. This turning and leaf fall is not the usual gradual preparation for winter in temperate zones (温带) but a stress response by trees trying to preserve water. We are now in a false autumn, caused by heat and drought. And it feels wrong.

There is, therefore, something deeply disturbing about such a graphic alteration of familiar rhythms. Droughts are not unknown to the UK, of course, and too many parts of the world are certainly familiar with far more severe versions. But increasingly they are occurring in the context of a climate emergency, and record-breaking heat. And the beauty of a false autumn, specifically, has an emotional effect, a deep weirdness, something mysteriously suggestive of evil or danger.

Cultures across the world contain ceremonies for the propitiation (宽恕) of the weather; a sense of responsibility for the natural world- and the belief that it will punish us if we fail it—is as old as humanity. One of the reasons why the Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s 1798 poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is so effective is the directness with which it links the shooting of an albatross (信天翁)—the destruction of innocent wildlife—to a terrible change in the weather: no rain, just burning, death-dealing sun. We may not understand the mechanism, but at an instinctual (本能的) level it feels right.

And in a similar way it has not really been a surprise to hear that birds are struggling. In London, young swifts (雨燕) were seen falling out of the sky. Fewer—and too early—nuts and berries mean some animals will not live through this winter. Older trees, with their longer roots, will hopefully survive, but young trees may not—all that promises further warming. There will always be a degree of uncertainty about the causes of specific weather events, but we cannot deny that we have not taken care of the albatross. Now we must hope we are doing enough to make sure that these fearful golden days can be an autumn of autumns.

9 . Lixia, the Beginning of Summer

Lixia, also called the Beginning of Summer, is the 7th out of the 24 solar terms in China, which happens usually on May 5, 6 or 7.    1     People used to regard the day as the start of significant increase of temperature and thunderstorms. This day also marks the beginning of the peak season for the growth of plants. Lixia is not an official day that is celebrated by the public. It is just a sign to show the coming of hot summer so as to let people pay attention to keep away from hot weather.

Lixia egg is one of the typical foods. People use black tea leaves or walnut shells to boil eggs till they turn dark red.     2    , therefore, eating red eggs on this day symbolizes a kind of protection of heart and also provides people with enough strength to survive the coming hot summer days. Children usually hang nettings over their neck and put eggs in the netting. Playing with eggs can help children stay away from summer fever.     3    , which was very popular in the old days. People use red, yellow, black, green beans and peas, together with sticky rice to make a bowl of five-color rice. This color-rich rice will bring people good harvests in the summer.

Weighing people is traditional custom which dates from the Three Kingdoms Period.     4    , if the child was heavier than the previous year, it meant the child was becoming healthier and parents wouldn't have any worries for the hot summer.

After Lixia, the temperature is gradually rising and hot weather can be strain on your heart. As a result, people may easily feel tired during summer days. Having good rests becomes very important. Do not take up violent sports but do some slow activities.     5    . Besides, eating more fruits and vegetables and less hot and dry food can help tonify（滋补）your liver and kidneys.

10 . I was at the hardware store the other day and overhear（偶尔听到）a woman tell Ed, the manager, that fall was her favorite time of year. Ed, because he likes to keep his customers happy, agreed that fall was a wonderful season, but I could tell he was lying.

I was going through my mind recently, trying to find sweet memories of fall. I failed. I met my wife in the summer and married her two summers later. My sons were born in the winter and summer, my granddaughter in the winter. I’ve been fired twice in my life, both in fall. One October, a truck carrying tofu ran a red light and hit me, destroying my favorite car, combining（使结合） the three things I most hate — trucks, tofu, and October.

I’m not saying fall is without its attractions. The leaves are beautiful. But fall’s vacillation （立场摇摆）is troubling, its effort to please everyone, its continuous search for the middle ground, to be all things to all people. Say what you will about summer and winter, at least they have the courage to keep their opinions strong, even if they kill us with extreme heat or cold.

I recently read a story of a man coming out of a three-month coma（昏迷）. It started in early fall and ended just as winter came. I hope if I’m ever in a coma I would be just as lucky as the man.

Upon my awakening, one of my families who stood around my bed would ask , “Don’t you remember anything from the past three months?”

“Not the first thing,” I would happily report. If I ever have enough money, I’m going to buy a second home in Australia, so that when fall starts here, I can move there for three months, just when spring is starting.