"The temperature, which dips to the -30???s in winter, hovers around 22-25 C. in summer, clinching the famous saying here: ???Nine months of the year it???s winter, and the other three you wait for summer!??? In a sense the cold is of vital importance for the city, because the land here consists mainly of sand and wetlands, which the cold weather hardens, making it suitable for building." . . . . .