China's Climate

   China is situated in the eastern part of the Eurasian continent, the largest continent in the world. The country's east coast faces the Pacific Ocean, the world's largest ocean. China's climate is influenced by strong monsoons that cause a northwestern wind in winter and a southwestern wind in summer.
   Because of periodic changes in the monsoons and the influences of terrain, China's diverse climate comprises four distinct seasons, as well as tropical rain forests, deserts, cold waves, cyclones, and spring showers. The monsoons cause rainfall and temperatures to fluctuate greatly from region to region. China's temperatures range from tropical to temperate and to frigid.
   China's January mean temperatures are much lower than temperatures in other countries at the same latitude; mean temperatures in July are much higher. For instance, Huma in China's Heilongjiang Province is at the same latitude as London, (51°- 52°N). London's January mean temperature is 3.7°C, while in Huma it is -27°C.
   China's highest monthly mean temperature is in July; its lowest monthly mean temperature is in January. Because of maritime influence, places such as Qingdao on the eastern coast may retain the highest temperatures through August.
   Southwestern China, which is influenced by monsoons coming from the Indian Ocean, has its highest yearly mean temperature in June. The rainy season begins after June as the temperature begins to drop in places like Lhasa.
   The differences between the highest summer temperatures and the lowest winter temperatures increase gradually from south to north and from east to west. The annual difference in the Pearl River Valley (southern China) is 15°C, it is 25°C in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River (north-central China), 34°- 40°C north of the Great Wall (northern China) and in the northeastern Liaohe River valley, and in excess of 40°C in both the Heilong River valley (northern northeast) and in Turpan in Xinjiang (northwestern China). Annual mean temperatures also differ among regions. The Xisha Islands and those areas south of them in the South China Sea have the highest annual mean temperature in China: more than 26°C. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with an average altitude of 4,000 meters above sea level, has an annual mean temperature below zero. Qomolangma (Mount Everest) has an annual mean temperature of -29°C. The highest temperature appears in the Turpan Basin in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, where it reaches 49.6°C; the lowest temperature appears in Mohe in Heilongjiang Province, where it reaches -52.3°C. Rainfalls in the three summer months make up 60 percent of China's total annual rainfall. Rainfalls
decrease gradually from the southeastern coast (1,000-2,000 mm, the highest is 8,408 mm in Taiwan) to 100-200 mm in the northwest. Eastern Xinjiang, the center of the Eurasian Continent and also the center of China's arid regions, has an annual rainfall of less than 50 mm. Toksun in the Turpan Basin receives the least annual rainfall: only 3.9 mm. China's complex climate and its differences in temperature, humidity, and precipitation provide good conditions for agriculture, forestry, and animal husbandry. Many of the world's animal and plant species can be found in China.