With the days getting shorter and the seasons changing, it’s the perfect time to introduce some winter-related vocabulary in Chinese so you can talk about this season. If you’re the type of person who prefers summer, we’ve already taught some Chinese summer vocabulary, so you can study that and dream of warmer days in the meantime. For many of us, winter is a reality that must be accepted, so we might as well learn how to talk about it in Chinese, right?

Winter fun in Harbin.

Here are 25 winter vocabulary words for you to study, broken down into three categories – weather, clothing, and activities:

While we’re on the subject of winter, you should check out our post about Harbin – China’s Ice City. The city hosts an annual Ice and Snow Festival of epic proportions, and also has lots of fun winter activities on the frozen Songhua River. Take a look in this 2-part video series:

Now let’s try to use some of those words and practice speaking Chinese! See if you can answer these three questions about winter in Chinese:

Do you like winter? Why?
你喜欢冬天吗？为什么？
nǐ xǐ huān dōng tiān ma? wèi shén me

In your hometown, what’s the weather like in winter?
在你的老家，冬天的天气怎么样?
zài nǐ de lǎo jiā, dōng tiān de tiān qì zěn me yàng

In winter, what do you like to do?
冬天的时候，你喜欢干什么？
dōng tiān de shí hòu, nǐ xǐ huān gàn shén me