THE first snow fall of winter is traditionally seen as a sign of a good harvest, but for those of us in Beijing who do not have a couple of fields to till the sudden snow storm which hit the capital last week was anything but auspicious.
It may have looked pretty, but for the millions of commuters who had to struggle to and from work the winter wonderland was no fun at all.
The unexpected snow fall clearly exposed the dreadful deficiencies of Beijing's transport system as well as the inability of the municipal authorities to deal with what, in most economically developed cities, would be only a minor inconvenience.
Faced with ice-covered roads and cycle paths, thousands of commuters were forced to abandon their traditional two wheeled transport and head for the bus stops and underground railway stations.
Beijing's public transport system is overburdened at the best of times but, when deluged by a sudden wave of new customers, the network is stretched to bursting point.
On the first morning of the snow storm, many buses were held up as hundreds of additional passengers attempted to pile on to the already packed single deckers.