Fánshì yào wèiyǔ-chóumóu, búyào dào le wēijī cái yìngduì.
In all things, prepare before the storm - don't wait until a crisis hits to respond.
Tips
history
This idiom comes from the Book of Songs (诗经), the oldest collection of Chinese poetry. The original verse describes a bird mending its nest with mulberry bark before the rains come - a metaphor for forethought.
memory
未 (not yet) + 雨 (rain) + 绸缪 (to bind/wind around) - before it rains, bind things up. Picture wrapping your belongings with silk before a storm.
