China Climate

The Yangtze River serves as China's official dividing line between north and south. China climates differ from region to region because of the country's extensive and complex topography.

North

Northern summers are hot, from June to August. Temperature in Beijing or Xian can be around 40C at the very hottest time. And summer is the rainy season in north China. Winters can be extremely cold. And the temperature goes much differ from day to night. Beijing may experience temperature of 0C in day time, but -20C at night. Further north, such as Harbin, -40C are not uncommon, and you'll see the curious sight of sand dunes covered in snow.

South

We say south of Yangtze River is the south China in general terms. The southern part of China is wet in summer time, the highest temperature is around 35C. Some provinces have very comfortable weather. We say it's spring time all the year around in Yunnan. In the southeastern part south of the Nanling Mountains, rains are plenty and the temperature is high all year round. In the Yangtze River and Huaihe river valleys in the central part, there are four distinctive seasons.

The table below displays average monthly climate indicators in China.

City		Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Beijing	°C °F	-4.7 24	-2.3 28	4.4 40	13.2 56	20.2 68	24.2 76	26.0 79	24.6 76	19.5 67	12.5 55	4.0 39	-2.8 27
Shanghai	°C °F	3.3 38	4.6 40	8.3 47	13.8 57	18.8 66	23.2 74	27.9 82	27.8 82	23.8 75	17.9 64	12.5 55	6.2 43
Xi'an	°C °F	-0.5 31	2.2 36	7.9 46	14.1 57	19.4 67	24.8 77	26.3 79	25.3 78	19.4 67	13.8 57	6.8 44	0.9 34
Hong kong	°C °F	15.8 60	15.9 61	18.5 65	22.2 72	25.9 79	27.8 82	28.8 84	28.4 83	27.6 82	25.2 77	21.4 71	17.6 64
Chengdu	°C °F	5.3 42	7.2 45	11.5 53	16.7 62	21.1 70	23.1 74	25.5 78	25.1 77	21.1 70	16.7 62	11.5 53	7.2 45
Guilin	°C °F	8.0 46	9.0 48	13.1 56	18.4 65	23.1 74	26.2 79	28.0 82	27.8 82	25.8 78	20.7 69	15.2 59	10.1 50
Mt.Huangshan	°C °F	2.7 37	4.2 40	9.0 48	15.2 59	20.5 69	24.7 76	28.3 83	28.2 83	23.2 74	17.4 63	12.1 52	6.1 41
Yunnan	°C °F	7.8 46	9.8 50	13.2 56	16.7 62	19.3 67	19.5 67	19.9 68	19.2 67	17.6 64	15.0 59	11.5 53	8.3 47
Guangzhou	°C °F	13.4 56	14.2 58	17.7 64	21.8 71	25.7 78	27.2 81	28.3 83	28.2 83	27.0 81	23.8 75	19.7 67	15.2 59
Chongqing	°C °F	7.5 46	9.4 49	14.0 57	18.8 66	22.2 72	25.2 77	28.6 83	28.4 83	24.0 75	18.4 65	13.9 57	9.4 49
Hangzhou	°C °F	3.6 38	5.0 41	9.2 49	15.1 59	20.3 69	24.3 76	28.7 84	28.2 83	23.5 74	17.4 63	12.1 54	6.1 43