Chinese Seasons: Four Seasons and 24 Solar Terms With Examples of Food and Activities

At a Glance: Knowing the seasons when learning Chinese does more than just boost your vocabulary. It’s a direct line into the rhythm of life, culture, and even the philosophy woven into everyday language. Forget dry lists—here’s something I’ve learned: when you learn a season’s character, you unlock a whole family of poetry, festivals, food, and feeling. Basically, you’re not just memorizing a word; you’re learning a mood. Let’s get into it.

From lunar calendar 农历 to gregorian calendar 公历

You now live by two systems.

This shift began officially in 1912 for global alignment, but the old calendar's cultural roots were too deep to pull out. The result is a seamless, practical duality. You plan your business quarter in Gregorian months, but you mark your life by lunar festivals. It’s not a switch; it’s a coexistence. In other words, understanding China means reading both clocks at once.

春 (chūn): The start of the four seasons in Chinese Mandarin

Here’s something I’ve learned from years of language study: no culture celebrates renewal quite like Chinese culture does with . The character itself can be memorized using mnemonics — see the top part? It’s a simplification of plants pushing up through the earth under the sun’s warmth. More or less, it’s growth in visual form.

This isn’t just a season; it’s the star of the show. You have the monumental (Spring festival) — Chinese New Year, the family reunion, the feasts, the red envelopes. But then, the feeling seeps into everyday language:

Basically, if a word has in it, it’s probably associated with newness, tenderness, and vibrant life. You’ll love discovering these combinations; they make the season tangible.

夏 (xià): The radiant peak of the four Chinese seasons

If is about gentle growth, is about the full, glorious, and sometimes oppressive blaze of life at its peak. The character evokes a person with outstretched limbs, basking in the sun’s intensity. The upside to this season? It’s all about abundance, heat, and bright light.

The season’s most famous marker is (Summer solstice), the day with the longest sunlight. And then, there’s the weather. You’ll quickly learn (Summer days) are synonymous with：

But let’s be honest, the downside to this is the intensity. In other words, it’s not all poetry. You might hear someone complain about (Bitter summer), that lethargic feeling from the relentless heat. It’s a season of strong contrasts, and the vocabulary reflects that: vibrant life meeting overwhelming warmth.

A side note: the earliest Chinese dynasty is called . As in ancient times, also represents elegance and grace.

秋 (qiū): Autumn, the third season in the Chinese calendar

Autumn is where Chinese language and culture get profoundly poetic — and a little melancholic. The character is a combination of “grain” and “fire,” historically representing the harvest time when crops were gathered and fields burned. So right away, you get the dual nature: abundance and conclusion.

This is the season of:

But with the harvest comes the falling leaves, the cooling air, and a natural introspection. That’s where you get the beautiful, sorrowful idioms.

The truth is, might be the most emotionally complex season. It’s visually stunning — (Autumn leaves) turning golden and red — but it’s a reminder of change and impermanence. If you’re a thoughtful person, you’ll connect deeply with this season’s vocabulary. It captures that bittersweet feeling perfectly: the beauty of the mature world, right before the rest.

冬 (dōng): Learn Chinese last season

Winter in Chinese is stark, quiet, and definitive. The character pictographically represents the end of a season, like a seed enclosed. It’s about closure, preservation, and enduring the cold. The upside to this season? Its clarity. It’s a time to go inward, to rest, and to anticipate the cycle’s restart.

The main event is, of course, (Wintertime) and its companion (Winter season). The vocabulary is all about the essentials:

In other words, isn’t flashy, but it’s deeply necessary. It’s the punctuation mark at the end of the year’s sentence. There’s a stark beauty in phrases like (Severe winter) or (Winter scenery) — a world stripped bare, waiting. Basically, it teaches you the value of stillness and resilience. You endure the so you can appreciate the that much more.

二十四节气 (The 24 solar terms): The ancient rhythm of days of the year

So, we’ve talked about the four big chapters — the seasons. Now, let’s zoom in. Way in. What if I told you the traditional Chinese calendar doesn’t just have four seasons, but twenty-four mini-seasons, each about 15 days long? That’s the (Twenty-four solar terms). Basically, it’s the world’s most detailed and poetic weather and farming app, carved into the year over two thousand years ago.

Here’s something I’ve learned: this isn’t just folklore. It’s precise astronomical observation.

Each is defined by the sun’s position relative to the earth. The system splits the year into 24 slices, starting with (Beginning of spring).

The upside to this is incredible practicality. For an agricultural society, knowing it’s (Grain rain) — not just “late spring” — told you it was the exact time to sow millet. (Awakening of insects) meant the ground was truly warming. The truth is, it’s a framework for living in sync with nature’s subtle shifts.

You’ll love the names. They are tiny poems that tell you exactly what to expect. They fall into two categories: terms about phenomena and terms about climate. Let’s look at a few key ones.

The Phenomena Terms: These mark the clear, observable events in the natural world.

The Climate Terms: These are about the intensity of the weather itself.

Tips on learning the seasons in China

If you just memorize the characters for the seasons, they won't stick. The trick is to connect them to experiences. Basically, you need to move them from your flashcards into your senses. Here’s how.

Anyway, if you want to practice this seasonal vocabulary with real Chinese content, Migaku's browser extension and app let you look up words instantly while watching shows or reading articles about Chinese culture. You can build your vocabulary naturally by learning words in context. There's a 10-day free trial if you want to check it out.

FAQs

Don't know when you can eat seasonal traditional foods?

Let your media consumption guide you. Follow Chinese cooking or culture accounts. When you see a flood of posts about (Mooncakes) or (Zongzi), you’ll know it’s Mid-Autumn or Dragon Boat Festival season. This real-time cultural signal connects your learning directly to living tradition.

The calendar isn't abstract — it’s on your plate.