The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau Meteorological announced that Shanghai’s meteorological spring began on March 24. On average, meteorological springtime in Shanghai begins on March 25. So even though winter has seemed long, meteorological spring is right on schedule.

Meteorological spring begins when the average temperature reaches 10 C (50 F) for five consecutive days after Lichun – the beginning of spring in the traditional Chinese calendar. The first day of meteorological spring is the first day of the 5-day sequence.

The traditional East Asian calendars divide a year into 24 solar terms. Lichun (literally “start of spring”) is the 1st solar term. Lichun begins when the sun reaches the celestial longitude of 315° and ends when it reaches the longitude of 330°. Lichun more often refers to the day when the sun is exactly at the celestial longitude of 315°. In the Gregorian calendar, Lichun usually falls around February 4.