The climate in China

The climate in China is quite varied, but generally does not offer extreme climate conditions. It is cold and wet with some nice summer months. A beach holiday can be enjoyed in the warmer season with water temperatures of up to 26 degrees. The warmest and at the same time rainiest region is Southwest China (Xīnán). The coldest is Northeast China (Dōngběi). Due to the warmer temperatures, the best time for traveling is from May to September. Winter athletes will find their favorite weather conditions in January.

Temperature records of the last 73 years

The hottest temperature measured from 1949 to September 2022 was reported by the Karamay weather station. In July 2015, the record temperature of 44.0 °C was reported here. The hottest summer from July to September, based on all 104 weather stations in China below 1,810 meters altitude, was recorded in 2022 with an average temperature of 24.6 °C. This average temperature will normally be measured every four to six hours, thus also including the nights. Normally, this value is 23.6 degrees Celsius. The average maximum daily temperature at that time was 30.3 °C.

The coldest day in these 73 years was reported by the Hailar weather station. Here the temperature dropped to -42.9 °C in January 2001. Hailar lies at an altitude of 650 meters above sea level. The coldest winter (January to March) was in 1969 with an average temperature of -14.1 °C. In China, it is usual to have about 16.8 degrees more at 2.7 °C for this three-month period.

The most precipitation fell in March 2004. With 322.5 mm per day, the Tianjin weather station recorded the highest monthly average of the last 73 years. Incidentally, the region with the most rainfall for the whole year is around Guangzhou. The driest region is near Tazhong.

Long-term development of temperatures from 1985 - 2021

In contrast to single record values, long-term development cannot simply be brought about by all weather stations in the country. Both the number and the locations are constantly changing. An average value would give a distorted result. If several measuring stations in particularly cold mountain or coastal regions are added in one year, the average would decrease as a result of this alone. If a station fails during the summer or winter months, it does not provide any values and distorts the average again. The subsequent long-term development was therefore reduced to only 3 measuring points in order to have comparable data over as long a period as possible.

In the years 1985 to 2021, there were only these 3 weather stations in the whole country, which reported continuous temperature values (Yinchuan, Beijing, Wu Lu Mu Qi). From these weather reports, we have created a long-term development that shows the monthly average temperatures. The hottest month in this entire period was July 2021 at 26.9 °C. January 2011 was the coldest month with an average temperature of -11.3 °C.

The average annual temperature was about 9.2 °C in the years after 1985 and about 11.0 °C in the last years before 2021. So in less than 37 years, it has increased by about 1.7 °C. This trend only applies to the selected 3 weather stations in China. A considerably more comprehensive evaluation of global warming has been provided separately.

Data basis and methodology

The data from the individual measuring stations are based on the archives of the German Weather Service, individual values averaged and supplemented by own elements. In order to determine a representative national average, average values were first calculated for each part of the country, which were then summarized at the national level. Thus, if a disproportionate number of weather stations are located in a small area, their number does not affect the national average. There are 104 stations in China itself. In 49 cases, neighboring but nearby weather stations were also used to obtain more accurate values.