The city of Hangzhou is about a two-hour train ride to the south of Shanghai. It is much smaller than Shanghai, with a population of around six million. It was the capital of the Song Dynasty and is considered to be one of the most important historic places in Eastern China. You would never guess from the picture that the climate of Hangzhou is about the same as that of northern Florida. So it was all the more special for me that I witnessed the first January snowfall in more than three decades. The famous parks and gardens were still somewhat in bloom as the heavy wet flakes settled down upon the landscape, and it seemed as if the entire population came out to admire the mantle of white.