Winter Wonderland

After the solar term “Great Cold,” a cold front swept through Taiwan from north to south. Overnight, Taiwan’s mountains, typically green through all four seasons, were given a white blanket.

Once in a while, subtropical Taiwan gets a frigid blast from the great white north. This time people awoke to joyfully look out upon a frozen island. Hordes streamed toward the mountains.

But the dream state would end with melted snow—and the reality of climate change remaining to be faced.

At the climate change conference in Paris at the end of last year, the nations of the world for the first time came to a hard-to-reach agreement to reduce carbon emissions.

Let us hope the tide can be turned.

Let us hope that this snowfall, emblematic of weird weather and climate change, is but a one-time thing. 

On Xindian’s Mt. Shizitou, snow clings to every branch in a frozen world of muted colors.

On the slopes of Mt. Datun, snow and ice have obscured the dun-colored ground. (photo by Huang Chung-hsin)

A first for many Taiwanese: the joy of throwing powdery snow into the air. (photo by Huang Chung-hsin)

Many snowmen were built in the mountains, and some even descended on cars to parade through Taipei’s streets.

The oddity of a freeze in the subtropics brings all manner of fantastical delights. (photo by Huang Chung-hsin)