China weather
Everything you need to know before arriving on the ground
A China weather article may not sound like the most riveting pre-trip reading, but if you’ve ever arrived in a new destination and been totally underprepared because it’s too hot, cold, wet or dry, you’ll understand just how quickly travel plans can be derailed. What starts out as fun quickly turns to a much less enjoyable experience - all because you didn’t check the weather.
Like so many aspects of China, weather is not straightforward. How can it be? In a country that covers a massive expanse in all directions, there are bound to be variances in China weather - sometimes really big ones - on any given day. That’s why it pays to do your research well in advance, not only of your arrival, but planning and booking your trip too.
Without drowning you in too much detail, like the rising floodwaters of a tropical summer typhoon, we’ve endeavoured to capture the all important information for adventurers making their way to China, regardless of when and where they travel.
China weather
An overview
China’s coastline just on its own stretches a whopping 18,000 kilometers, so as you’d expect with such a distance, the zones within China itself present a wide range of temperatures and climates.
During winter, China is generally warm in the south and cold - in some places, bitterly cold - in the north. Temperature differences between north and south
can vary by up to 50°. The influence of the winter monsoon, which brings cold
and dry winter winds from Mongolia and Siberia impacts the northern region
of China. Visit Beijing during the coldest months of the year and you will
definitely be pulling out your thermal gear, gloves, and beanie.
By contrast, in summer, which runs from June to August, you will find temper-
atures that reach the other extreme. With the exception of the high lying
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Tianshan Mountains, the average temperature in
most areas sits above 20°C. In fact, you will find that in many places in the
south, the average is above 28°C.
Now if you’re thinking that sounds quite manageable and you think Turpan
in high summer sounds ideal, you may just want to reconsider your travel
plans. Freezing cold in winter, temperatures in Turpan swing in the opposite direction during summer, hitting an average high of 40°C (104°F).
Remember too there is a wet season in China weather and the timing of it varies from north to south. In the south, with its more tropical and subtropical weather zone, the wet season starts early and ends late. The wettest months are between May and October.
The wet season in the north is shorter and concentrated in July and August (summer). Monsoons are a common feature of China’s weather, both in warm and cold months. Fortunately, this is most advantageous for agriculture, as it allows for diversity in crop cultivation and animal production.
But it’s not all good news. Floods, along with other natural disasters such as drought, earthquakes, and cold waves occur regularly each year, and in some cases, with catastrophic effects.
Although we’ve only provided a brief overview of China weather here, at the very least, you have the basics, and can start to plan the timing of your trip accordingly.
The takeaways on China weather for foreign visitors?
China weather by city
Beijing
Beijing
Xi’an
Xi’an
Shanghai
Shanghai
Chengdu
Chengdu
Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Dunhuang
Dunhuang
Guilin
Guilin
Lhasa
Lhasa
Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Want to know more about the weather in China? Work through the pages of our Travel Guide and find everything you need to know about visiting China. Discover helpful information on related topics, including China visas, things to do in China, food, culture, and more. As a China travel agent that’s been operating well over a year - and survived the impact of COVID-19, we’re more committed than ever to helping our customers discover and experience real China. We understand that your once-in-a-lifetime trip to China starts well before departure, that’s why we provide useful information about important details on topics like the weather in China to help make your China vacation as enjoyable as possible.
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Testimonials
- ctsim wrote a review 12 January 2024SingaporeExcellent private tour in Lijiang, Dali and KunmingI booked a private tour for my party of 9 friends to tour Lijiang, Dali and Kunming. Martha was excellent in her services to co-ordinate on our tours and provided us with excellent tour guides, all bilingual in English and Mandarin. Our mini coaches were clean, comfortable with very good drivers driving us safely to all places of interests. It was an enjoyable and memorable tour and all of us enjoyed it very much. I highly recommend Martha of China Tours to arrange your tour in China!
- Siri_Yong wrote a review 25 December 2023Bangkok, ThailandXian private tourWe went to Xian, Long Men and Yuntaishan on November 2023 with China Tours. The places visited was fantastic. Matha from China Tours arranged everything for us just perfect for our group of 8 people. In particularly, food were over expectation - lunches and dinners were a lot! Period. Last but not least, the guide, as we requested from Matha to have a Thai speaking guide through our trip, Mr. Ling is excellent, informative and helpful. Thank you to Matha, for her arrangement. I will surely use your company service again in my next trip to China.
- S SAXENA wrote a review 30 November 2023LondonChina Tours for Thailand, Cambodia and VietnamWe did Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam tour organised by China Tours. We are very happy with China tour company. All our hotels accommodation was excellent. all our Guilds in all three countries were very good and speak very good English. Our transport arrangements during tour and airport pickup and drop off was in time for our flights. I did the tour of South Korea and China with China Tours, This November 2023 tour was based on my good experience with China tours in the past
- Nicababy Lin wrote a review 12 November 2023Jacksonville, Florida5 days 4 nights tour at Beijing and Xi’an with ChinatoursI did a 5 days 4 nights solo private tour trip with “Chinatours.com” to Beijing and Xi’an. I am really satisfied with the itinerary and flexibility of how “Chinatours” allows me to add and customize my trip. A little hiccup, when I arrived at Xi’An high speed rail station from Beijing, my tour guide, Helen when to a different station to wait for me as they have two different rail station. Despite this, I felt her sincerity to welcome me in Xi’an whilst she kept apologizing. Upon arriving at the hotel, guess what? The hotel gave me a free upgrade to a Suite. A whole Suite by myself!Awesome!Wish I had more time to stay in the hotel room though but my itinerary was packed. I arrived pretty late that night. Regardless, the room was decorated to give this ancient China historical ambience. It’s huge and clean. Hotel name is Grand Mecure on Renminbi Square. Breakfast included. Breakfast was alright, I had better breakfast choices in Beijing. Next morning, Helen (tour guide) arrived early to the hotel to pick me up and start my trip. I managed to squeezed through the crowds and got an impressive view of the Terra-cotta army! Wow!!! It’s a must to come to Xi An and look at this army yourself. Helen (tour guide) treated me to a popular terracotta shaped chocolate ice cream. She said to make up for the hiccup last night. I bought a history book that is all in English. If you love reading history I recommend to buy the book. We had some thick wide noodles for lunch. It’s called “Biang Biang Mian”. In the evening, I went to walk the ancient City Wall. Saw the bell tower and drum tower too. Then I had dinner at the mall nearby the hotel. Final day at Xi’An, started with a beautiful weather, visited Big Wild Goose Pagoda and Xi’an Museum. I went to watched a 30 mins Tang Dynasty musical instrument show. I recommend only people who are really interested to know more about Chinese music to attend. Then I went to Great Mosque and walked along Muslim street. Try a giant BBQ squid, it was alright. Had the crispy chinese croissant with minced pork and wanton soup for lunch. Delicious! Overall, Helen really took care of my needs and I love her knowledge on the history of China and Xi’An. I almost forgot, both tour guides from Beijing and Xi’An are bilingual. They are fluent in English. I had a really great time in China and I am definitely visiting China again in the near future! Cheers! I wrote a separate review for my experience in Beijing.
- Cheristiawan H wrote a review 8 November 2023
Great Trip Datong and PingyaoExcellent service provided to our Datong and Pingyao trip...will recommend to our friends for china trip... Great service also from Martha from China Tours
- Sonya A wrote a review 21 September 2023Towcester, United KingdomChina Tours 13 day tourMy daughter and I just returned from a fantastic 13 day trip to China with China Tours. The organisation and itinerary were excellent and our guides were really helpful and knowledgable. We had an absolutely brilliant time and a lot of that is down to the China Tours staff. When my daughter left her favourite jacket behind in Chengdu, Martha immediately arranged to have it sent on to the guide in Shanghai for us. I thoroughly recommend China Tours to anyone considering a holiday in China.