April is the kindest month

T . S. Eliot's bleak poetic meditation on modernity, The Wasteland, begins by flatly stating "April is the cruelest month." Eliot clearly never visited Beijing during April.

Autumn in general and October in particular are often seen as the best season in China's capital. And fall is indeed a special time in Beijing, when the city is often bathed in a soft and even magical light in early evening.

However, April is my favorite month here. It provides a brief but wonderful window between winter's bitter chill and the stifling heat and humidity of summer.