Country Guide

The vast area of the People's Republic of China extends from 53° to 18° N and from 73° to 134° E in central and eastern Asia. It has a range of climates varying from tropical to cold temperate, and from high mountain to desert.

The country is often divided into China proper and the outer territories. China proper consists of the coastal regions fronting the Pacific and the valleys of the three great rivers: Huang He, Chiang Jiang, and Xi Jiang. This is the most productive and populated part of the country.

The outer territories consist of Manchuria in the northeast, Inner Mongolia in the north, Xinjiang Uygur in the west, and Tibet in the southwest.

China has a long land border with Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan in the north and west, and on the south is bordered by Pakistan, India, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam.

Except in Inner Mongolia and Manchuria, these land borders traverse some of the most mountainous country in the world. This helps to make the climate of most parts of China very distinctive and throughout history has also tended to isolate China from outside influences of other kinds.

The climate of China proper and Manchuria is dominated by the great seasonal wind reversal called the Asiatic monsoon. From October until April winds tend to blow out from China and the heart of Asia under the influence of the great high-pressure system which develops in Siberia and central Asia at this time.

From May until September or October, as the continent of Asia heats up, this area becomes one of low atmospheric pressure and winds are drawn into much of China, both from the Indian Ocean and the Pacific.

These warm, moist winds bring most of the annual rainfall to Manchuria and China proper at this time. Tibet, Xinjiang Uygur, and Inner Mongolia, furthest removed from the influence of the sea, receive much less rain.

The second important control over the climate of China is latitude. While most of the country has warm to hot summers, there is a great difference in winter temperature both from north to south and from the western provinces to the coastal regions.

North China, including Manchuria, has extremely cold winters of almost Siberian severity, while Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur share in this winter cold. Tibet, being a great upland plateau rimmed by some of the highest mountains in the world, has cool summers and very cold winters.

This monsoonal climate regime is so characteristic and dominant over most of the country that some climatologists have referred to the 'Chinese type of climate' to indicate a large seasonal range of temperature, a wet summer, and a dry winter. It has certainly been a factor in bringing about the cultural unity of China proper.

Except in the far north of China, and in the outer territories, this warm, wet summer results in rice being the dominant food crop of the country.

This similarity of both cause and effect, however, should not be allowed to hide the fact that there are important differences of weather and climate, both from north to south and from the lowlands and river valleys of China proper to the desert and mountainous regions of the outer provinces.

South and central China have a tropical or subtropical climate with no real winter cold, while north China, Manchuria, and the western provinces have a severe winter. Eastern China has abundant summer rain while the northern and western regions contain much desert and semi-desert.

Click on the links below for a detailed look at China's regions:

North Eastern China
Central China
South China
Hong Kong
South Western China
Tibet
Xinjiang Uygur and the Western Interior
Inner Mongolia