Climate

China has a lot of it. Spread over such a vast area, the country is subject to the worst extremes in weather, from the bitterly cold to the unbearably hot. There isn’t really an ‘ideal’ time to visit the country, so use the following information as a rough guide to regions in winter are found in the south-west in areas such as Xishuangbanna in Yunnan, the southern coast and the island of Hainan Dao. In summer, high spots like Emeishan in Sichuan are a welcome relief from the heat.

North

Winters in the north fall between December and March and are incredibly cold. Beijing’s temperature does’t rise above 0℃(32F ), although it will generally be dry and sunny.  North of the Great Wall,  into Inner Mogolia or Heilongjiang,  it is much colder with temperature s dropping to -40℃, and you’ll see the curious sight of sand dunes coverd in snow.

Summer in the north is around May to August.  Beijing temperatures can rise toto 38℃ or more. July and August are also the rainy months in this city. In both the north and south most of the rain falls during summer.

Central 

In the Changjiang (Yangtze River) valley area (Including Shanghai) summers are long,  hot and humid. Wuhan , Chongqing and Nanjing have been dubbed ‘the three furnaces’ by the Chinese.  You can expect very high temperatures any time between April and October.
Winters are short and cold,  with temperatures dipping well below freezing-almost as cold as Beijing. It can also be wet and miserable at any time apart from summer. While it is impossible to pinpoint an ideal time to visit,  spring and autumn are probably best.

South

In the far south,  around Guangzhou,  the hot, humid periods last from around April to September,  and temperatures can rise to 38℃. This is also the rainy season. Typhoons are liable to hit the south-east coast between July and September.

There is a short winter from January to March. It’s nowhere near as cold as in the north, but temperature statistics don’t really indicate just how cold it can get, so bring warm clothes.

Autumn and spring can be good times to visit the south, with day temperatures in the 20℃ to 25℃ range.  However, it can also be miserably wet and cold , with perpetual rain or drizzle, so be prepared for all weather.

North-West

It gets hot in summer, but at least it’s dry. The desert regions can be scorching in the daytime.  Turpan, which sits in a depreeion 150m below sea level, more than deserves the title of the ‘hottest place in China’, with maximums of around 47℃.

In winter this region is as formidably cold as the rest of northern China. In Urumqi the average temperature in January is around -10℃, with minimums down to almost -30℃. Teperatures in Turpan are only slightly more favourable to human existence.

Tibet

In Tibet it is easy to get the impression that all four seasons have been compressed into one day.  Temperatures can vary from below zero during the evening and early morning to a sizzling 38℃ at midday, but it always feels remarkably cool in shade.

Winter brings intense cold and fierce winds.  Snowfall is far less common in Tibet than the name ‘Land of Snows’ implies—it’s an arid place and the sun is quick to melt off snowfalls. Rainfall is scarcest in the north and west of Tibet. Northern monsoons can sweep across the pains for days on end, often whipping up dust storms, sandstorms snowstorms, or (rarely) rainstorms.

The temperatures in major cities ?