ABSTRACT
I was well settled in Lin Village when winter suddenly descended on this part of China. I use the term “suddenly” without exaggeration. It was either the last few days of 1984 or the first part of 1985 when the clear sky that had brought plenty of sunshine to this area was replaced overnight by thick, dark clouds and occasional sprinkles. Winter monsoons, which are supposed to bring dry and cold air masses from inner Siberia across the continent to cover much of China, twist when they collide with the warm air off the Pacific Ocean. The original southeast airflow picks up moisture from the warm body of water, turns southwest, and dumps its humidity on China’s southeast coast. “The plum rain season,” as the local people call it, lasts for about three months, from late December to late March.
