Due to factors like geographic position,
atmospheric circulation, altitude and human activity, China can be divided into
three climate zones, namely the east monsoon zone, the northwest dry and semi-dry
zone, Tibetan high and cold zone.
China eastern part is a typical monsoon zone. Most areas in this part are cold and
dry in winter, whereas hot and rainly in summer.
There is a big gap between the temperatures of north and south China in winter.
In north China, the land is sometimes covered with snow and ice in winter. When
people in Harbin, a city in northeast China, go on a visit to the ice lantern park
in severe coldness, people in Guangzhou, a soutern city, are enjoying a blossom
spring.
In summer, the majority of the country experiences high temperatures and plentiful
rain. With high temperatures and plentiful rain in the same season, agriculture
benefits a lot.
The precipitation is unevenly distributed across the country, decreasing from the
southeast coast to northwest inland. Precipitation abounds in southeast areas but
it is scarce in the northwest areas. For instance, Huoshaoliao in Taiwan has an
annual rainfall of 5,557.8 mm, whereas in the central Turpan Depression, the annual
rainfall is less than 10 mm.
Do you know?
Monsoons can be simply defined as the wind that changes its direction conspicuously
when the season changes. In east China, southeast wind is prevalent in summer, and
northwest wind prevails in winter.
Every year from June to July, the drainage areas of Yangtze River and Huaihe River
are harassed by incessant rains. Since it is the time when plums ripen, people call
this type of rain "plum rain". The rain is also called "mould rain", because things
easily get mouldly in this rainly season.
Reference data
Beijing is at about the same latitude as New York. However, Beijing is colder than
New York in winter and hotter in summer. The difference in temperature between July
and January in Beijing is 30.9 c, while it is 23.6 c in New York.
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