🇨🇳China

China extends from 18°09′ to 53°33′N as the world's third-largest country, covering approximately 9.6 million km² and telescoping virtually every climate type on Earth. The landscape forms a west-to-east descending stairway from the Tibetan Plateau above 4,000 m (often called the Roof of the World) through the basins and ranges of Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, across the loess plateau and the North China Plain, to the southeastern hill country.

Major Köppen regimes include monsoon-driven humid subtropical Cfa and Cwa across the south and southeast (Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong), humid continental Dwa and Dwb across the North China Plain and Manchuria (Beijing, Harbin), cold semi-arid BSk and arid BWk spanning the Gobi and Taklamakan basins (Urumqi, Hotan), tropical Aw on Hainan Island, and alpine ET and EF on the Tibetan and Tian Shan ranges.

Guangzhou sees January highs of 19°C and lows of 11°C and July highs of 33°C with 1,700 mm of rain dominated by the East Asian monsoon. Beijing experiences a continental pattern, with January highs of 3°C and lows of −7°C and July highs of 32°C, with 530 mm of summer-concentrated rainfall. Harbin endures frigid conditions, with January lows of −22°C and July highs of 28°C. Shanghai displays humid subtropical characteristics, with highs of about 9°C and lows of 3°C in winter and highs of 33°C in summer, with 1,170 mm of precipitation.

Lhasa on the Tibetan Plateau sees January highs of 8°C and lows of −7°C and July highs of 23°C with dry air and intense solar radiation. The Turpan basin exhibits extreme continental swings from winter lows of about −10°C to summer highs around 40°C, with maxima above 47°C. Hong Kong ranges from January highs of 19°C and lows of 15°C to July highs of 32°C and experiences typhoon season from May to November.

The Plum Rain or Mei-Yu front delivers heavy June downpours to the Yangtze valley, while the East Asian summer monsoon delivers most of the annual rainfall across much of the country. Major recent events include the 1998 Yangtze floods, the 2008 South China snowstorm, the 2012 Beijing flood, the 2021 Henan floods, the 2022 heatwave, and glacier retreat across the Tian Shan and Himalayas. Air quality and heatwave challenges continue in megacities.

Our archive covers 662 Chinese cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940. The hottest July afternoons are in Turpan, with average highs around 38°C, while Hailar has the coldest January nights, with average lows near −30.7°C. Comparing the last decade against the 1940–1970 baseline, mean temperatures across these cities have risen by about 1.5°C.