过冬那些事

About the Winter Days

过了冬至，新年就不远了。老话说得好，“冬到来年加十”，意思是说，今年冬至加上十一天，就是明年冬至的日子。“长不到夏至，短不到冬”“过了冬，一天长一葱”，正如谚语所述，夏至是一年昼长夜短的分界日，而冬至则是一年夜长昼短的分界日。

When the Winter Solstice comes,the Spring Festival is drawing near.Formerly in Yantai there was an important custom,that is,a married woman must spend the Winter Solstice in her husband's family.As an old saying goes, 'If a daughter-in-law does not hold responsibilities for the winter preparations,her father-in-law would be frozen.' In the northeastern area of Fushan,after the Winter Solstice there were many important tasks to fulfill in life.After the winter began,vegetable growers would start to harvest and store various vegetables.On the Winter Solstice,the properly stored vegetables were taken from the cellars and went on the market until the Spring Festival.It was an avocation for the old Fushan people to reserve vegetables in winter,which brought about good income for the vegetable growers.Winter Solstice,the villagers entered their slack season and had more time for an easy and interesting life.They would think about adding some small seasonal articles to their homes.In general the slack season was not slack at all.Instead,the days were so interesting in a mood awaiting the steps of spring with each passing day.