Winter Solstice

冬至

From then on, the days become longer and the nights become shorter. The Winter Solstice also marks the arrival of the coldest season in the year. 

自此以后，白昼的时间变得越来越长而夜晚则会越来越短。冬至也标志着一年中最寒冷的季节的到来。

冬至大如年：

As Shelley said in this poem:”If Winter comes , can spring be far behind?” The Winter Solstice is different from other solar terms and has a more important status.Among the folks, there are "Winter Festival", "Changzhi Festival" and "Ya Sui". There is a saying in folk proverbs that the Winter Solstice is as important as a year.

冬天到了，春天还会远吗，正如雪莱的这句诗所言，冬至和其他节气不同，具有更重要的地位，民间有“冬节”、“长至节”、“亚岁”的称谓，民谚中更是有冬至大如年的说法。

冬至为始：

The name of the Winter Solstice means very influential socially.The ancient books said: there are three meanings of "Zhi", one is the arrival of the negative pole,the second is the beginning of the sun,and the third is the Sun travels to the south, so it is called “Zhi”.For the ancient farming life, from the Winter Solstice, the “yin qi” decreased and the “yang qi” rose, symbolizing that the day became longer and the sun shadow was the longest,therefore,the ancients believed that from the Winter Solstice, the "yang" energy of the world began to grow stronger and stronger, which represented the beginning of the next cycle and was an auspicious day.So, in the Zhou Dynasty, November was the first month, and the Winter Solstice was the beginning of the new year.So,the Winter Solstice was also called “Winter Festival”.

冬至的名字是大有来头，古书里解释：至有三义，一者阴极之至，二者日气始至，三者日行南至，故谓至。对于古代的农耕生活来说，从冬至开始，阴气降低阳气回升，象征白天变长，日影最长，因此古人认为，从冬至起，天地阳气开始兴做渐强，代表下一个循环开始，是大吉之日。所以周代以冬十一月为正月，以冬至为岁首过新年，因此冬至被称为“冬节”。

冬至阳生

The day of Winter Solstice symbolizes the beginning of the “yang qi”, which is echoed in diet.On this day, the north is generally accustomed to eating dumplings, while the southerners are accustomed to eating tangyuan and wontons. At the same time, the Winter Solstice is also a good time to nourish tonic Winter, people can select some medicine to nourish in the Winter to achieve the health care effect of disease prevention and strengthening body , such as angelica, ground yellow, goji berries, yam and other “yang qi” things.

冬至这天象征着阳气之始，在饮食方面也与此相呼应，在这天北方一般习惯吃饺子，而南方人则习惯吃汤圆和馄饨。同时冬至也是冬补,可适当选用补冬的药材以达到防病强身的保健作用，如当归、地黄、枸杞、山药，等阳气之物。

关于冬至的相关英语

【习俗】custom /ˈkʌs.təm/ 习俗 [n.]

【饺子】：Dumplings , Chinese meat ravioli, Jiaozi；

【馄饨】：Wonton, dumplings in soup；

【米团】：Rice dumpling；

【长线面】：Long noodle ；

【冬至】winter solstice / Dongzhi

【汤圆】 Tangyuan Glutinous rice ball / rice ball

【二十四节气】 24 Solar Terms