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Reader question: Please explain “slow season” in this sentence: it seems like January through March has been a slow season for news and other events. My comments: It simply means that not much has been happening. There’s not been a whole lot going on in the months of January through March. If January through March were seen as a season, as in “four seasons of the year”, then these months would be the time of the year when business slackens, the days are short and cold (in the Northern Hemisphere), people stay at home a lot – in short, nothing (news-worthy) happens. Anyways, slow season is (primarily) a business term, in contrast to the height of the season when most sales are made. If you go to the Summer Palace in Beijing the next few days, for example, you’ll notice that the entrance price will have been raised by a big margin because the upcoming summer time is the travelling high season. That is, more people visit the Palace from April to October than during the winter months. Hence they raise the gate price for summer time, reducing it once again come winter. Beidaihe in Hebei Province, for another example, is also known as a summer resort. That means this past winter, a particularly cold one, has been a “slow season” for locals. In terms of business, it’s been their “downtime” in terms of making money from crowding tourists. In two months time however, the seaside city will be bustling again. The beaches will be thronged with travelers. Hotel rooms will be at a premium (more expense than usual) and competition for seats at restaurants will be fierce. For the locals? Hectic and busy but easy money to be made again from gullible tourists from everyplace. | 
