The traditional Chinese solar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Major Cold (Chinese: 大寒), the 24th solar term, begins this year on Jan 20 and ends on Feb 2.

Major Cold is the last solar term in winter and also the last solar term in the annual lunar calendar. In this period, snow, rain and icy cold weather exert a big influence on people's lives.

Here are six things you should know about Major Cold.

Cold current

During Major Cold, as the cold current moves southward, the weather is very cold. Although modern meteorological observation shows that in some regions of China the weather during Major Cold is not colder than Minor Cold, the lowest temperatures of the whole year still occur in the Major Cold period in some coastal areas.