Beijing - Post Report Question and Answers
What is the overall climate: is it extremely hot or cold, wet or dry, at any time of year, for example?
Beijing has four seasons. Winter arrives quickly in mid-November and is always harsh and dry into February, followed by a rapidly warming spring in March/April. Beijing gets summer hot by mid-May, and it remains hot with increasing humidity and rain into July and August. Fall arrives in late August, and brings several weeks of mild, sunny weather through mid-November. - Nov 2024
Hot humid summers, cold dry winters. Plan to invest in a few humidifiers. - Nov 2021
Surprisingly cold in the winter. Beijing is in a desert so when the wind picks up in the winter it is cold. - Nov 2020
Beijing is painfully hot during the long summer, and painfully cold during the long, dark winter. Spring and fall are beautiful, but far too short. - Aug 2020
I like the climate. Cold in the winter, but it doesn't feel that frigid because the air is so dry. Spring and fall are short but lovely. Summer is fairly hot but much less humid than in Washington, DC. - Jul 2020
Super dry and can be very very hot and very very cold. - May 2020
Two seasons: five months of hot, rainy and humid summer, five months of cold and dry winter, two weeks of spring and two weeks of fall. Not my kind of weather. - Nov 2019
Haven't been here a full year yet but the fall is lovely and the summer is hot! - Oct 2017
Beijing has a very dry climate but there are frequent rain storms during the short rainy period in July and August. Outside of that, you can expect rain/snow no more than once a month if that. When the pollution isn't bad, you can expect blue skies and sunshine almost all the time. Temperatures severe, though: hot and humid the summer, icy cold in the winter. It's sort of similar to Minnesota minus the snow. - Dec 2015
Climate is very much like the East Coast in the USA (Philadelphia/DC area). - Apr 2015
China has 4 seasons but spring and fall are short, and it doesn't rain much in Beijing. Summer is hot, humid, and winter can be cold like the northeast in the U.S. - Aug 2014
Quite hot in the summer, very cold in the winter. Beautiful in the autumn - often with good air quality as well - also nice in the very short spring months. Sandstorms can occasionally occur in the spring months. It is also very dry here. The summer is the rainiest season and we might see rain 1-2 times a week. We can go for months and months here without any precipitation at all. Everything is very dusty and gritty. - Jul 2014
Freezing winters, hot summers. Lovely spring that lasted two weeks. - Jun 2013
Summers in Beijing are hot (90°F and up). Winters are chilly (around freezing), but with a biting cold wind. The prevailing condition in Beijing is pollution haze, though the government weather reports refer to it as "fog." - Aug 2011
Winter is extreme and beyond what I ever hope I have to endure again for the rest of my life. I write about it a lot in my blog. Spring is splendid but too short. Summer is disgustingly humid and smoggy and fall is glorious. - Apr 2011
Ridiculously cold winters, and very dry (it's near the Gobi Desert, folks). You will need humidifiers in every room, and if you go to sleep without running one you'll wake up with a bloody nose. In spring there are crazy dust storms that blow in sand from the Gobi, and you can't even see across the street sometimes. Summer is very hot and humid, just like most places in Asia. Fall is the best time to visit, but it's really short (only 6 weeks or so). - Jan 2011
Cold winter - the wind will freeze you to the bones. Short, beautiful spring. Hot, dirty summer. Short, beautiful fall. Make sure your guests come in April-May or Sept-Oct. Those are the nice months here. - Apr 2010
Hot humid summers and cold dry winters with dust storms in between. - Jan 2010
