Although it gets disturbingly cold here in Chengdu, it almost never snows.  The reason?  The temperature is not actually that bad – maybe 5-10 degrees Celsius – but the constant high humidity causes the freeze to seep into your bones.  And no, us “Chengduren” aren’t just whiners – I know several people who have dealt with frostbite because of the weather.

Anyway, all this to say that yesterday it almost snowed.  It looked like a mixture of snow and freezing rain, which had no chance of making any significant accumulation on the ground, but did effectively mark the coldest day we’ve had in Chengdu this year.  This also was the day the power goes off at school for the majority of the day, leaving us in the cold.  I am now much more thankful for heaters, coats, sweaters, blankets, gloves, long underwear, and warm puppies.