Lidong, or the Beginning of Winter, the 19th of the 24 solar terms on the Chinese lunar calendar, falls on November 7 this year. The arrival of Lidong signifies that temperatures are gradually decreasing, and cold air is starting to prevail, ushering in the cold season. The Chinese characters for "dumplings" phonetically resemble the term for the "meeting" of two seasons, giving rise to the tradition of eating dumplings on this day.

Beginning of Winter

By Li Bai (Tang Dynasty)

Tr. Shi Yonghao

The writing brush frozen, new verse I would not write,

 
The stove blazing, fine wine heated does me delight.

 
Tipsy, I gaze at the ink patterns in moon light,

 
In a trance methinks snow veils the hamlet o'er night.

Source: CGTN

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