Spring thunder in the early morning cracks the sky, awakening those hibernating creatures. This marks the upcoming Awakening of Insects (Chinese: 惊蛰), the 3rd of the 24 solar terms on March 6.

3月6日，春雷一声响，惊蛰已然至，自然万物“怦然心动”。

The word 惊蛰 means the awakening of hibernating insects. 惊 is to startle and 蛰 means hibernating insects. After the Awakening of Insects, the weather gets warmer. It is an extremely important time for human and is widely seen as the beginning of the busiest time for agricultural work.

根据《夏小正》记载：“正月启蛰，言发蛰也。万物出乎震，震为雷，故曰惊蛰。是蛰虫惊而出走矣。”

At the Zhazuo Wildlife Zoo in Guiyang, Guizhou, the crickets were woken up, so were two sea lions.

在贵阳森林野生动物园，这声春雷惊醒了蟋蟀，还唤醒了两只海狮。

Shocked by the thunder, Caddy, a 3-year-old sea lion, sought his 7-year-old mate Lantern for help. Lantern was quite calm. Spring thunder was not new to him.

三岁的海狮凯迪还没怎么见过世面。立马扑腾着去找它的同伴，好像在询问发生了什么。旁边七岁的灯笼显得一脸淡定，已然是一只经历过大场面的海狮了。

In another room, Mei Mei, a hippo soaking in the hot spring, was startled. She raised her eyebrows, and then fell asleep again. It seems not a big deal to her.

另一个房间的河马美美被吓了一激灵。她抬了一眼又接着睡去，像在说：“不过如此……”

As a large herbivore living in Africa, the proper way to warm up for a hippo in winter is soaking in hot-spring.

作为生活在非洲的大型食草动物，“泡温泉”是河马冬天的打开方式。

The good thing is that spring is finally here and the weather will be warmer after the Awakening of Insects. Then, Mei Mei's favourite time of a year, summer, is not far away. In summer, Mei Mei spends almost 18 hours a day in the water. The cooling river is the nicest place to play.

惊蛰过后，天气渐暖，春天终于来了，美美最喜欢的夏天就不远了。到那时，美美要花18个小时在水里，河里戏水美滋滋。

The brown bears, who have been loafing on the job for months, are finally ready to start their business.

磨洋工长达四个月的棕熊弟兄，终于要准备好好营业了。

Although bears hibernate in winter, that is the case for bears in the northern China. With warm winters in the south and abundant food in the forest, there is no need to hibernate at all.

虽说熊在冬天会冬眠，然而实际上这种属性只在北方熊的身上才有。在南方，冬天暖和，森林里不缺食物，根本没有必要冬眠。

Actually, just acting cute would win the heart of his die-hard fans. As the Awakening of Insects arrives, the bears think, it's time for hard work.

但是借着冬眠的由头，他俩也没怎么工作，主要业务仅限卖萌。但惊蛰一到，留给他俩磨洋工的日子就不多了。

"When spring thunder cracks the sky, everything grows."

“春雷响，万物长。”

But Hetty the 5.2-meter-tall giraffe doesn't want to grow anymore. He takes more than 30 kilos of water and 50 kilos of leaves every day. Still, he is looking forward to the Awakening of Insects, because the new leaves in spring taste better.

但长颈鹿海提不想再长了，因为他已经有5.2米高了。每天要“炫”掉30多公斤水、50公斤树叶。不过，他对惊蛰还是十分期待，因为春天的嫩枝是他的最爱。

In fact, it's not the thunder but the spring wakes up dormant living things.

是谁叫醒了动物们“营业”？原来不是惊雷，而是春天。

Why not spend a warm spring with animals!

惊蛰，和小动物们一起迎接春天吧！

贵州日报天眼新闻记者

庞博 彭瑾 朱紫蒨 陈大炜

海报设计 齐青杨 周滔

编辑 王梓艺

编审 田旻佳