Jilin rime
Jilin rime, found along the banks of the Songhua River in the city of the same name, in Jilin province, is considered as pure as jade, bringing poetic, pictorial splendor for a kind of "spring in winter". Jilin's rime can join Yunnan province's Stone Forest, the Yangtze River's Three Georges, and Guilin's mountains and water in the Guangxi as four major natural wonders of China. Its grace and charm attract tourists from all over, who find themselves praising it.
In 1991, Jiang Zemin, the Party secretary, paid a visit to Jilin and composed a poem praising the rime, as follows: "On the banks of the cold river, frost-clad willows one sees, In full blossom the flawless white jade trees, The icy feathers in Jilin are what gives you joy, and deserve the reputation they enjoy." In 1998, he extended the poem, "On the banks of the cold river, frost-clad willows one sees, When the rising sun brings another sunny day, And in full blossom are flawless white jade trees, which cause spring here to stay, Such a wonderful scene is the result of nature's efforts, and good results of human effort come from hardship and sweaty shirts."
One could say that the enjoyment of Jilin's rime can be separated into three parts: enjoying the fog at night; enjoying the icy feathers in the morning; and enjoying the falling icy feathers at mid-morning.
Enjoying the fog at night
This refers to the foggy Songhua River the eve of the blossoming of the rime, which usually comes at around 10:00 pm. At first, wisps of mist rise from the river, and, as the time passes, the wisps grow larger until they become fog that gets heavier and heavier. Soon, it rolls to the banks of the river, then to the nearby streets, footpaths and buildings which are shrouded in heavy fog. Tourists find themselves in a fog that obscures buildings, trees, and even the street lights and they seem to be in a wonderland or a sea of clouds and, the heavier the fog at night, the more spectacular scenery the following morning. So, the fog has become a means of forecasting the quality of Jilin’s rime.
Icy feathers in the morning
The icy feathers of the rime are the first thing you see in the morning. Thanks to the heavy fog the previous night, the willows, pines, cypresses and old elms that line the bank of the river, and which were so black the night before, are all a silvery white in the morning. And, when the people come to get a look at the area in the early morning, they see another dream-like wonderland stretching along the banks as far as the eye can see.
Waiting til mid-morning for the falling icy feathers
This refers to the scenery as he rime begins to fall off the trees, which usually begins sometime around 9:00. Perhaps it's because of their jealousy of the delicately beautiful icy feathers that the sunlight and the breeze cause the icy feathers on the twigs and branches begin to leave. At first, they fall off in small bits, then, gradually slide off in clusters. But, as the breeze blows the crystal flakes up into the air in the bright sunshine, they maintain their glory as colorful snowflakes in the air.
