Treasured seasons

One illustration from Yu Shicun's The Book of Time - Grain Rain (guyu),by artist Lao Shu.Yu is the author of some of China's bestsellers,including Supernormal Words.[Photo provided to China Daily]

China's 24 Solar Terms have inspired poets and artists, as well as aiding farmers - and now they are recognized as being of international importance. Lin Qi and Wang Kaihao report

As spring thunder wakes animals from their winter sleep, sprouting plants breathe an air of freshness into the world. The temperature rises and increasing rainfall turns the mountains green. When the heat of summer recedes, farmers prepare for harvest and, as snow falls, mountains are enveloped in pure white.

The transformation of the landscape brought about by the changing seasons has long been the subject of poems, paintings, nursery songs and other forms of art.

Beijing-based artist Dong Lin, 25, depicts these climate phenomena in a series of ceramic sculptures, 24 Solar Terms, which she began a year ago in Jingdezhen, China's ceramic capital in East China's Jiangxi province.