介绍:
Lincoln: Today sees Beijing see its first snow in 2015. I am absolutely ecstatic. I love the snow, I can’t wait, I was very excited this morning, I took loads of photos coming out of the subway. I don’t know how you guys feel. I love being in the snow, I feel like I’m in the movies! I’ve only ever seen it on the screen [WY: So glad to hear that] I’m so excited!
Michael: I wish I shared your enthusiasm, Lincoln. I’m from the UK, so we do see a certain amount of snow, but more often than not it turns into sleet, which is kind of the worst of both worlds. It’s got all of the negative aspects of rain and none of the positive elements of snow. You know, you can’t even do anything with it, it doesn’t look pretty. Actually, I’d maybe be more enthusiastic about this if the heating was on! Because, you know, it’s only the beginning of November, and, you know, in the north of China, where we are, there’s the central heating, which goes on, I think, in a couple of weeks’ time. [WY: Yes] So it’s cold enough that it’s snowing, but the central heating is not on yet. If you live in an old-style hutong house, like I do, it can get pretty cold at night.
Lincoln: Maybe some more blankets, Michael, maybe an extra blanket. I think it’s fantastic. I really enjoy it. I remember, specifically, I think it was last year, the snow came quite late, if I’m not mistaken, I think the first snow came in February
Michael: I don’t think there was a lot of snow last year.
Lincoln: There was, and it came quite late, I was quite surprised by that.
WY: So that is why people are so excited, because in China we have a saying that “a timely heavy snow promises a good harvest”.
Lincoln: That’s fantastic. I mean, like I said, I’ve only ever seen it in the movies, and it never snows for long enough and for heavy enough to actually cause an inconvenience to my life, so for me, I feel like I get the best of both worlds.
Michael: Is this unusual, Wu You? I mean, does it normally snow in the first week of November in Beijing?
WY: For the usual situation, it should be, and especially in my hometown, after talking about South Africa and the UK, in my hometown it can reach minus 35 degrees Celsius in the northeast part of China, in Liaoning Province, we enjoy heavy snow every year. When we talk about that, we need to mention the Chinese solar terms, because in Chinese culture, tomorrow, which is November 7th, it marks the beginning of winter in the Chinese lunar calendar. (deleted sentence)
Michael: So, when it gets to minus 35 degrees, how do you cope? What do you do to combat the intense cold?
WY: Oh, first of all, inside, especially in the north part of China, and when you’re outside, you wear a lot of clothes.
Michael: But then, if you’ve got to walk from your house to work or something like that, and maybe it takes 15 or 20 minutes, what do you wear? I mean, how do you keep warm in that sort of intense cold?
WY: We wear a lot of clothes, and that leads to my next question: have you ever heard about the “Chill Cool” in Chinese, which also means long underwear?
Lincoln: Long Johns, yeah.
WY: That has been widely used in my hometown, because in minus 35 degrees Celsius, that can be quite enjoyable.
Michael: Enjoyable?! [WY:Yes] Minus 35? I think that the coldest I’ve ever been was, I was in Moscow in December one year, and I was wearing my dad’s big, huge coat that he’d bought, and I had this big, massive coat on with a huge hood, and I was walking down the street, and I couldn’t feel my face, I couldn’t move my face. It was very, very unpleasant, so I can’t imagine what minus 35 degrees is like, Wu You.
WY: You can always see the snowflakes or the little ice flakes in your eyebrow. [Michael: Wow] Because when you are breathing you can see the steam directly go to your eyebrow.
Lincoln: I know, I have a lot of British friends as well who always complain about the snow. It seems that the British, or the English, specifically, have a bit of a battle with snow, in that it basically shuts down transport every single time it happens, even though it happens every year.
Michael: We’re talking about a country where the rail network was once shut down, and I quote – this is the actual reason – it was “the wrong kind of snow”. [WY: What?!] Yeah. You have incredible reasons. The rail network’s been shut down for the wrong kind of snow. “Leaves on the line” is another one.
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