Well in China at any rate. In Australia we have just ticked over the threshold from Summer into Autumn and already the temperature starts its decline into what we like to call freezing. However, having now experienced China’s winter I can safely say that the ‘freezing’ that us Melbournians complain about is in fact absolutely nothing!
When we arrived in China it was mid-february and freezing cold. On top of this, all plant-life had either shed its summer coats or was completely brown. We had arrived after a period of severe snowfall – something that was quite rare for the part of China we were in – Wuxi in Jiangsu Province. Due to the snow, all surviving grasses were brown and pressed down like some kind of weird natural carpet.
Whilst the weather was freezing requiring the constant use of jacket and gloves, when the season ticked over to Spring there was an almost amazing transition. The weather heated up in such a way it was like flicking on a heater. The gardens that were brown and flattened almost completely regenerated. Bushes that were dulled and brown some way somehow just re-grew themselves into a vibrant green – well vibrant as much as you get in China – the ever present smog has a way of making almost everything look dirty.
China is a land of extremes in the weather department. In the Summer it’s boiling hot and the winter, freezing cold. Having never lived in a country with such clean cut seasonal differences, I guess I was a lot more observant. It certainly put the mild weather of my home state of Victoria into perspective.
In Winter from this...
To this in Summer!
Life After China 