Once upon a time, in a warm and sunny place called Xiamen, there lived a little girl named Yingchun. Yingchun had bright eyes and a smile like the sunniest day. But something was missing. Yingchun had never seen snow.
One day, her parents said, 'Yingchun, we're going to take a trip to Heilongjiang where your grandparents live, for the Chinese New Year!' Yingchun clapped her hands with joy. 'Will I see something new there?' she asked.
As they traveled north, the air became cooler. When they finally arrived, Yingchun looked out the window and saw white flakes falling from the sky. 'It's snow!' exclaimed her parents. Yingchun's eyes grew wide with wonder.
She hurried outside, bundled up in a puffy jacket and mittens. She reached out her hands and giggled as snowflakes tickled her palms. 'It's like cold butterflies!' she laughed, dancing around in the snow.
Yingchun made a little snowball and rolled it across the ground. It grew bigger and bigger until she made her very first snowman. She gave it a big, carrot nose and two coal eyes. 'Now you can see the New Year too!' she told the snowman.
The next day, the whole family had a snowball fight. Yingchun squealed with delight as a snowball from her grandpa softly hit her jacket. With a quick roll and toss, she sent one flying back.
As New Year's festivities filled the air with joy, Yingchun felt a little sadness that she would have to say goodbye to the snow. But she smiled knowing she had the wonderful memory of her first snow with her family in Heilongjiang. And she was sure she'd see snow again.
