【节气词汇】

　　Light Snow 小雪

　　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”.

　　在每年11月22日至11月23日，当太阳到达天文经度240°的时候，就是节气“小雪”。

　　【气候特征】

　　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。

　　【传统习俗】

　　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。

　　【健康小贴士】

　　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。