Last week, I was wondering where the snow was. Shortly after I posted, the snow cometh. And it didn’t stop coming for almost an entire day. And then I learned how awful snow is. Consider:

• My birthday, last Monday, was probably one of the coldest day on record for Beijing — it was definitely the coldest day of my life. That night (early Tuesday morning), it dipped down to minus 16 degrees Celsius, the coldest temperature in almost 30 years.
• The clouds dumped about 30 centimeters (almost a foot) of snow on Beijing, the most in almost 60 years. This completely crippled transportation — I have never seen the streets so empty here. It was nearly impossible to get a taxi. We probably waited close to an hour before getting one at a hotel. It did, however, make my morning commute relatively smooth.
• What China lacks in technology, it makes up for in manpower. This may have never been more obvious. About 300,000 workers were mobilized in Beijing to shovel and sweep (only in China) snow from the streets and sidewalks. Also, sand (?!) was dumped on the roads to make them less slippery. It works, but it also makes everything gross and muddy.

Needless to say, I’m not a big fan of snow anymore. For once, I am glad it didn’t snow, as it was forecasted to yesterday. I kind of wonder if the government had something to do with it. (The Chinese government loves messing with the clouds. They caused the snow on Halloween.) Instead, temperatures are warming up! It might rise above freezing this week! What a twist!

Wondering if the snow is going to remain on the sidewalks and ground all winter…