Photos: Snow Day in Beijing

Were the winter swimmers still out at Houhai? Oh yes, they were.

Editor’s Note: If you were in Beijing or are friends on WeChat with anyone in Beijing, then you already probably know: it snowed today! While not particularly newsworthy — though this city gets an average of only seven days of precipitation from December to February, so this is actually kind of a big deal — what snow does lend itself to is good photos. So, here are some photos.

Also, while this wasn’t technically the first snowfall of the year, the last one lasted about an hour and was a huge disappointment. This was the real deal! It was good! We were all good to one another in Beijing, for like a couple hours. Everyone was happy!

All photos below are by Beimeng Fu, who adds: “It was my first stroll in the Year of the Pig along Houhai Lake near where I live, and I had almost forgotten about the ice swimmers — but here they are! Business as usual. Onlookers gather, eyes wide open. ‘I bet it must be warmer in the water,’ one commented. Others shot back with friendly laughter, “Why don’t you go down and have a try!'”

Beats swimming in Houhai Lake during the summer, if you ask us.

—Anthony Tao