【节气词汇】

　　Summer Solstice 夏至

　　“Summer Solstice” comes on June 21 to June 22 each year when the sun altitude arrive the highest in north. This day has the longest day time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and the sunshine in many cities in south China may last fourteen hours per day.After this day, the spot of the direct sunlight gradually moves southward.“

　　夏至”在每年6月21日-6月22日到来，这时候太阳直射点位于北半球最高点。这天北半球白昼时间达到一年最长，在中国南部地区的日照时长能达到14小时。夏至以后，太阳直射点逐渐向南移动。

　　【节气百科】

　　Although, this day has the longest daylight, it’s not the hottest. As traditional Chinese books described, there are three periods of the hot season. It starts around “Summer Solstice” and ends around “Autumn Begins”. The temperature rises day by day and the hottest days come around mid-July to mid-August, where temperatures of some cities in China reach 40 degree Celsius.

　　尽管夏至这天白昼时间最长，但并不是最热的一天。根据中国古书记载，炎热的季节分为三阶段。大约从夏至开始，在立秋结束。气温一天天上升，并在七月中旬至八月中旬达到最高温，中国一些城市甚至能达到40摄氏度。

　　【传统习俗】

　　In some provinces, there is the tradition of eating cold noodles on this day. According to old customs in Beijing, when it comes to “Summer Solstice”, people can eat cold noodles to stimulate the appetite and at the same time don’t need to worry about having diarrhea.

　　在一些省份，夏至有吃凉面的习俗。根据北京地区的旧俗，每到夏至时，人们就会吃凉面刺激食欲，同事也不必担心会腹泻。

　　【健康小贴士】

　　During this period, to comply with the Yin and Yang in the natural world, people should sleep late, get up early and have a nap during the lunch time. Aged people should make sure they have at least seven hours sleep every day by sleeping early and get up early. Actually most of the people feel tired and sometimes even headache during this period. This is because when the temperature rises, people can only send out the heat by perspiration, which may cause dehydration and thus the insufficient blood supplying to the brain. Therefore, remember to drink a lot of water if feeling uncomfortable.

　　在这期间，为了遵循自然界阴阳理论，人们应该晚睡早起并且午休。老年人需要每天确保早睡早起，至少7小时睡眠时间。实际上很多人在这个时节会感到困乏头疼。这是因为当气温上升，人们只能通过排汗祛热，这会导致人体脱水进而大脑供血不足。所以，要记住如果感到不适请多喝水。

（编辑：何莹莹）