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Summary: Cold and dark Europa

Since modern times, as the country has been bombarded by Westerners' strong ships and bombarded by European storms, Chinese generally regard Europe as a model of civilization, wealth, democracy, and even the best place in the world.

But in fact, in terms of livability of climate and geographical conditions, Europe is far inferior to East Asia - we Chinese are in the midst of happiness and do not know happiness!

I don't know if you have noticed when you look at the world map that the European 6 is one level higher than the East Asian 6 in latitude?

To give you an example, the northernmost city in China is Mohe in Heilongjiang Province, located at 53 degrees north latitude.

The average annual temperature here is around -5. 5c, the month with an average temperature below the OC for up to 8 months. Therefore, it is cold all year round, only about half a month in summer, the highest temperature is only 2oC, and only about 1oC at night, known as "China's Arctic City".

What's even more troubling is the high latitude that changes dramatically between day and night. On the summer solstice, although the temperature in Mohe is cool, the day reaches more than 19 hours. On the winter solstice, when the days are shortest, you can only see the sun for four or five hours, and the light is very weak.

Located at 53 degrees north latitude, the "Arctic City of China" is already so daunting that it is not a good place to live. So how high should the latitude of those famous historical cities in Europe be?

Here are some numbers: Moscow, Russia, 56 degrees north latitude; Berlin, Germany, 52 north latitude. 5 degrees; London, United Kingdom, 51 north latitude. 5 degrees; Paris, France, 49 degrees north latitude. The city of Harbin in China's Heilongjiang Province is located at 45 degrees north latitude - the beautiful flower capital of Paris in our impression is even further north than Harbin! And most of the land in Britain is the same latitude as Siberia!

Further south, Rome, Italy, at 42 degrees north latitude; Madrid, Spain, latitude 4o. 5 degrees. The latitude of Beijing is 39 degrees north. These southern European countries, which are full of sandy beaches and bikinis in our impression, are actually located at about the same latitude as Jilin and Liaoning.

Continue south, cross the Mediterranean, until we come to the Nile River in the middle of the desert, and we have the impression of Egypt, which is already a hot hell, what is its latitude? Cairo, Egypt, is 3o degrees north latitude, which is about the same as Shanghai -- I recently saw an interview on television with a citizen of Cairo who complained that after the revolution, there were constant power outages in the city, and there was no heating in the winter, and he was so cold that he was suffering from rheumatism......

In general, the European 6 is one level higher than the East Asian 6 in latitude. The Western European region with Britain, France and Germany as the core is at the same latitude as the Northeast region; The latitudes of Northern Europe and northern Britain are already on par with Siberia. Even the southern European regions of Spain, Italy, and Greece on the Mediterranean Sea are only about the same latitude as northern China.

To describe Europe as a cold place is not an exaggeration for us Chinese.

Although it is moistened by the Atlantic Current, Europe is warmer in winter than East Asia at the same latitude, for example, Paris at 49 degrees north latitude is much warmer than Harbin at 45 degrees north latitude, otherwise it would not be known as the flower capital. However, if there is any abnormality in this warm current (there have been several times), most of Europe will fall into a hellish ice cave of minus 4o degrees Celsius in an instant in winter!

What's worse is that on the earth, different regions at the same latitude do not necessarily have the same temperature due to the influence of altitude, monsoon, and warm current, which is related to the specific geographical environment. But the higher the latitude, the greater the variation in the length of day and night, but it is an absolute truth - because it is a matter of the sun.

In Mohe, Heilongjiang, which is 53 degrees north latitude, the sun can only be seen for four or five hours in winter, and it should be a similar situation in Berlin, Germany, and London, England, which are about the same latitude. Further north, Moscow is already dark all day and night.

Therefore, you should understand why modern Europeans are so keen to go to the Mediterranean Sea to bask in the sun.

In the summer, the situation is reversed, the sun dangles over the head for 17 or 18 hours every day without going down, and most of the night has to bask in the sun in the same way, making people dizzy - in Germany, the temperature in summer is usually 3o degrees, and there are already people everywhere who suffer from heat stroke, not that the Germanic people are delicate and unable to bear the heat, but they really have to bask for 18 hours in a row, and no matter how healthy people can't bear it!

It is precisely because of the general high latitude of the whole of Europe that in European countries, there is a special term that we Chinese are not familiar with - "white night". The so-called white night is in an area where the latitude reaches a certain degree (middle and high latitudes, close to the polar circle, but outside the polar circle), after the sun falls below the horizon in midsummer, it can only reach a small angle, and it can no longer fall. Due to the scattering of the atmosphere, the sky will never be completely dark. Then the people on the ground will see that the dawn has already arrived before the twilight of the day has passed - the so-called "white night".

According to scientific calculations, the area where white nights can occur starts at latitude 48°34′, and the higher the latitude, the longer the period of white nights, and the brighter the night sky. In China, only near the northernmost Mohe River in the territory, when the summer is close to the summer solstice, the phenomenon of white nights will occur, and even Harbin is outside the scope of white nights. In Europe, all areas north of Paris, the Nordic countries, Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom can see the White Nights...... The summer nights in Europe are so bright that many Chinese students are shocked by this and find it difficult to sleep.

Although winter and summer have their own troubles, for the ancient Europeans, the darkness was always more terrible than the light - the days were too long, and for the ancient people, the most was a matter of finding a dark place to sleep, but there was really no way, and it was not impossible to sleep in the sun; If the night is too long, ancient Europe is vast and sparsely populated, and there are poisonous insects and beasts everywhere that kill people, and many people suffer from night blindness because of malnutrition, so they really dare not go out at will in the dark night, otherwise it will be miserable if they encounter dogs, bears, jackals or something, and they can't even escape.

In those days, the lighting conditions were very backward, ordinary people could not light candles and oil lamps at all, and they could not do anything at home after dark, but could only shake and pray in the dark, and at the same time think of some terrible fantasy myths.

It is precisely because the length of the day changes so dramatically in winter and summer that Westerners in particular find winter precious.

Speaking of which, I have to mention once again the Western fantasy novel A Song of Ice and Fire, in which the mantra of the red-robed witch Melisandre is "The night is long, and everywhere is sinister; The day is bright and prosperous. In a sense, this does reflect the Western European view of the seasons.

In short, in the Middle Ages, before the birth of the historic change, Europe was such a cold, ignorant, backward and dark world.

Well, without further ado, if there are still people who want to venture into the European Middle Ages after reading the above, I can only admire your courage here and silently offer my blessings.