Winters in Beijing are noted for being both cold and long, with late-January and early-February promising the most bone-chilling cold temperatures and blustery winds.

So, it has been with no small amount of surprise this week that the weather has been hovering around 9-11C (that’s around 50F in ‘mericun units), with nighttime temperatures barely breaking freezing any more.

Snow? Not even a dream any more in Beijing. Locals will tell you of a time 10-15 years ago when it would snow regularly here in the capitol during winters, but this year we didn’t even get the 1cm dusting that we’ve seen in the last couple of years.

As an absolute lover of both winter and snow, it’s been pure torture to watch all my friends in England upload photos of all the snow there, as well as the crazy-record amounts on the east coast of the US and Canada. Drat!