Nine Nines of Winter
Days after the Winter Solstice are spent in anticipation of the coming Spring. From the day of Winter Solstice, there's about 81 days till Spring. These 81 days are grouped into nine groups of nine days each. Thus exists the customs of 'Nine Nines'.
These customs are developed from the boredom of staying at home from the harsh weather. For example, pictures of plum flowers are drawn and pasted on the wall. Every day, a petal will be added to the flower. After 81 days, when Spring arrived, the flower will be in full bloom with 81 petals. These pictures are known as 'Xiao Han Tu', named in the hope that it will lessen the cold. Many variations exists. In some, the flowers are replaced by nine Chinese characters with nine strokes each. A stroke is filled in every day. The less educated people make do with 81 circles, in which each day, they mark the condition of the weather. Left for windy, right for rainy and centre for Snowy. Thus they can see for themselves that the weather is indeed changing for the better.