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Climate characteristics: “Shu” stands for hot, so “Xiao Shu” (Minor Heat) means hot, but not as hot as “Da Shu” (Great Heat). "Xiaoshu" (Minor Heat) often comes in the first half of July in Chinese lunar calendar, when we enter the “Fu” days (dog day), of which the middle “Fu” is the hottest. The average temperature might be 26-27 ℃, with the highest temperature being above 40 ℃. The amount of precipitation will be more than 90 millimeters, with several years (e.x.1961) above 350 mm, making it the wettest term of the whole year. Storms, thunders and hailstones might happen during this time, though in some years there might be summer droughts.

There are many beautiful legends about the Minor Heat among the folks. It is said that “the sixth day of the sixth lunar month” is the day the Dragon King’s palace dries the dragon robe. Because this day is almost the eve of Minor heat, it’s the hottest day in the year, with the longest sunshine time and the strongest sunlight radiation. As a result, all families choose this “Shai Fu” day to sun their clothes that have been kept in the back of their closet in order to prevent mildew.

Thunder-shower 雷阵雨（雷阵雨） With the start of the Minor Heat season and the successive end of the Plum rains in Yangtze and Huai river districts, the rainy season from the Pacific southeast monsoon starts in the extensive area at the north of the Huai River-Qinling Mountains. In east China, there will be an obvious increase in precipitation and a relatively concentrated rainfall. Meanwhile, South China, Southwest China and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are also in the midst of the rainy season both from the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea southwest monsoon. However, under the control of the subtropical high it is high temperature and rainless in the midstream and downstream of Yangze River and the dry season which is usually appeared has a great impact on agricultural production, so it is quite essential to store water early in order to prevent drought. There is a peasants’ proverb—“when it rains in summer there will be rice in the pot”, though the rainfall which is brought from the thunderstorm, tropical storm and the typhoon is beneficial to the crop, such as rice, it will also affect cotton, beans and any other xerophil and vegetables.

In ancient times, our forefathers divided the Minor Heat into three pentads—”the first one is the arrival of hot wind; the second one is the crickets’ settlement in the corner; the third one is the hawks’ fighting in the air”. There will be no cool breeze any more during the Minor Heat. Instead, there will be winds carrying hot waves.

Minor Heat, comes between July 6th and 8th annually, is one of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese lunar calendar. By then, the sun is located at the 105 degree of the celestial longitude. Yue Ling 72 Hou Ji Jie, a book pertaining to the interpretation of moon, says: “June can be divided into big and small in terms of heat, it is small at the beginning of one month and big in the middle of one month. It is especially small on the day of Minor Heat.” The ancient people thought that it was not the hottest time during the Minor Heat period and then named it the Minor Heat. There is also a song with the lyrics “the Minor Heat is not hot but the Major Heat.” which means that the hottest period is coming but the extremely hot point has not arrived yet. Dog days usually appears on the 28th day after the Summer Solstice in China.