The rain finally let up, and after days of gray skies, the sun showed itself again.
Anyone living in Guangdong probably understands that kind of relief. Here, as long as the sun is out, even low temperatures usually feel manageable. Cold is one thing; cold without sunlight is another story entirely.
This year, though, February seemed determined to make things difficult. The weather started turning on Lunar New Year’s Eve: temperatures dropped sharply, rain arrived right after dinner, and then the sun disappeared for several days in a row. The first day of the new year came in with a terrible attitude. I had originally planned to go out on the first day of the holiday, but in weather like that, no one wants to leave a warm bed. As my mom would put it, the weather was so bad you wouldn’t even send a dog outside. One day of staying in turned into three, and before long, the holiday was basically over.
The whole month felt like a roller coaster, swinging wildly up and down. Just when it seemed like the cold spell during the New Year had passed, another wave hit. And yes, this was the one that really froze everyone in Guangdong.
In past winters, even at the coldest point, I could usually get by with two layers on top and two pairs of pants. This time that wasn’t enough. I had to dig through the closet and pull out an old sweater that had been sitting untouched for ages, and only then did I manage to get through it. Last night, I even woke up in the middle of the night because I was cold, with my feet freezing under the blanket. In Guangdong, waking up cold in the middle of the night while already covered with a quilt is not normal.
Now that the long-awaited sunshine is back, the next few days will probably look exactly like this: welcome to Guangdong, where you can experience all four seasons in a single day.
Hopefully this is the last cold front of the season. If I had to choose, I’d much rather be roasted by the heat than frozen like this.