China has a wide variety of different climates due to its vast size and diverse geographic features. In most parts of the country, there are distinct seasons.

The main regional climatic characteristics are as follows:

The northeast, which includes Beijing, usually experiences a long, cold winter, and a short but hot and sunny summer. Winter night-time temperatures sometimes fall to -20 degrees C in Beijing, and -40 degrees C further north. Between May and August, Beijing temperatures can reach 38 degrees C, with this also being the rainy season. During spring and autumn daytime temperatures are usually between 20 degrees C and 30 degrees C, with nights being fairly cool.

The central region, around the Yangtze and Huaihe river valleys, and the Shanghai area to the east, also has four distinctive seasons. There are long, humid summers, but winter temperatures fall well below freezing. This region includes the cities of Wuhan, Chongqing and Nanjing.

The southeast around Guangzhou experiences typhoons between July and September, and temperatures can go up to around 38 degrees C at this time. There are short, fairly mild winters. In spring and autumn, daytime temperatures are around 20 degrees C to 25 degrees C.

In northwest China there are dry, sunny summers, with maximum temperatures reaching 47 degrees C. Yet this region also experiences severely cold winters. There is very little rain in this region (less than 10 cm per year).

Tibet is cool in summer but experiences very long winters with temperatures well below freezing and very heavy snowfall.