Minor Cold is the 23rd of the 24 Solar Terms and the fifth solar term of winter. It falls between January 5 and 7 each year in the Gregorian calendar, and this year it arrives on January 5. Temperatures across the Northern Hemisphere continue to drop, often accompanied by cold waves and significant fluctuations. Among folk customs, people enjoy the snow and admire plum blossoms. It is also traditional to mark the nine nine-day cycles of winter, counting down to the arrival of spring warmth. Around the Laba Festival, people eat mutton soup, Laba congee and eight-treasure rice to ward off the cold.
