Chinese has an ancient poem that goes 家书抵万金 (jiā shū dǐ wàn jīn). It means
that a letter from home is worth ten thousand gold.
If a letter from home is worth that much, the package I received must be at
least twenty thousand gold!
Thank you to my mom for the three interesting books, the chocolate chip cookies, and the trail mix (not pictured above as it was already in my stomach). And thanks to Paula for the beautiful hand-knit scarf, which was very timely as yesterday was both chilly and windy. I was very happy to receive the lovely care package from you guys.
春天到了 (chūn tiān dào le)
In Chinese 收到 (shōu dào) means to receive (for example, to receive a package). If you split it up, 收 (shōu) by itself also means to receive, but 到 (dào) by itself means to arrive. 春天 (chūn tiān) means Spring (as in the season). If you put it together, 春天到了 (chūn tiān dào le) means Spring has arrived.
Beijing has a special flower called the 迎春花 (yíng chūn huā—Winter jasmine).
If you translate the name directly from Chinese, it means “Welcome Spring
Flower”. 
When the 迎春花 starts blooming you know that Spring is coming. Soon enough,
all the other flowers will start blooming.
Spring in Beijing is extra special, considering the windy, cold, interminable
winters that they have. It is also fleeting, Summer will soon come no doubt.
As such, everybody and their blankets are pouring outside to 晒晒太阳 (shàishài
tàiyáng—enjoy the sunshine).
逛一逛 (guàng yí guàng)
Well, that's it for this blog post. It is rather hard to want to write a blog post when Spring is in the air. Check back soon for a guest post from Alex about our day trip to Tianjin. I'm off to 逛一逛 (guàng yí guàng—to stroll about) and to stop and smell the roses.