Climate and average weather in Beijing
In Beijing, the summers are hot, fairly dry, and partly cloudy and the winters are cold, snowy, and clear.
Over the course of the year, the temperature in Beijing typically varies from -8°C to 32°C, and is rarely below -13°C or above 38°C. June is the hottest month of the year, while January is the coldest.
Based on the travel score, the best times of year to visit Beijing for warm-weather activities are from late March to mid May and mid September to late October.
- Hottest
- Jun
- 32°
- Coldest
- Jan
- -8°
- Wettest
- Jul
- 160 mm
- Driest
- Jan
- 3 mm
- Rain / yr
- 532 mm
- 59 wet days
- Daylight
- 9.2–14.8 h
- shortest–longest
- Elevation
- 49 m
- 39.9°N
- Clearest
- Dec
- 25% cloud
Beijing is capital city of China.
- Air quality
- Very high
- PM2.5 50.6 µg/m³ · 2018
- Density
- 1,155/km²
- people per km²
- Founded
- 1403
Air quality: WHO Ambient Air Quality Database. Density & description: Wikidata (CC0), GeoNames.
Beijing weather by month, at a glance
The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.
Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around late March to mid May.
Temperature through the year
Daily average highs and lows in Beijing, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.
The hot season lasts 5.0 months, from April 29 to September 26, with daily high temperatures above 25°C. The hottest month of the year in Beijing is June, with an average high of 32°C and low of 20°C.
The cool season lasts 3.0 months, from November 23 to February 22, with daily high temperatures below 8°C. The coldest month of the year in Beijing is January, with an average low of -8°C and high of 2°C.
Days typically run about 11°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 14°C) in May.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avg high (°C) | 2 | 6 | 13 | 22 | 29 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 27 | 20 | 10 | 3 |
| Avg low (°C) | -8 | -5 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 16 | 8 | -1 | -6 |
| Avg high (°C) | Avg low (°C) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | -8 |
| Feb | 6 | -5 |
| Mar | 13 | 1 |
| Apr | 22 | 8 |
| May | 29 | 15 |
| Jun | 32 | 20 |
| Jul | 32 | 23 |
| Aug | 31 | 22 |
| Sep | 27 | 16 |
| Oct | 20 | 8 |
| Nov | 10 | -1 |
| Dec | 3 | -6 |
How hot and cold Beijing really feels
The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.
On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Beijing feels like about 36°C (around July 26). About 78 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in July.
On the coldest nights, wind chill pulls the feels-like down to about -12°C (around January 16), with roughly 139 freezing days a year (feels-like at or below 0°C) — 49 of them bitterly cold — worst in January.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feels-like high (°C) | 2 | 6 | 13 | 22 | 29 | 32 | 35 | 33 | 27 | 20 | 10 | 3 |
| Air high (°C) | 2 | 6 | 13 | 22 | 29 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 27 | 20 | 10 | 3 |
| Feels-like low (°C) | -12 | -8 | -2 | 7 | 15 | 20 | 23 | 21 | 16 | 7 | -3 | -10 |
| Air low (°C) | -8 | -5 | 1 | 8 | 15 | 20 | 23 | 22 | 16 | 8 | -1 | -6 |
| Feels-like high (°C) | Air high (°C) | Feels-like low (°C) | Air low (°C) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | 2 | -12 | -8 |
| Feb | 6 | 6 | -8 | -5 |
| Mar | 13 | 13 | -2 | 1 |
| Apr | 22 | 22 | 7 | 8 |
| May | 29 | 29 | 15 | 15 |
| Jun | 32 | 32 | 20 | 20 |
| Jul | 35 | 32 | 23 | 23 |
| Aug | 33 | 31 | 21 | 22 |
| Sep | 27 | 27 | 16 | 16 |
| Oct | 20 | 20 | 7 | 8 |
| Nov | 10 | 10 | -3 | -1 |
| Dec | 3 | 3 | -10 | -6 |
Average hourly temperature in Beijing
A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.
Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on June afternoons, near 32°C, and coldest before dawn in January, near -8°C.
Beijing weather by month
Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.
| Month | High / Low (°C) | Rainfall (mm) | Wet days | Snow days | Daylight (hours) | Travel score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2° / -8° | 3 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 9.5 | 0.0 |
| Feb | 6° / -5° | 5 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 10.4 | 0.8 |
| Mar | 13° / 1° | 9 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 11.7 | 4.7 |
| Apr | 22° / 8° | 19 | 3.9 | 0.1 | 13 | 7.8 |
| May | 29° / 15° | 35 | 5 | 0 | 14.2 | 6.4 |
| Jun | 32° / 20° | 74 | 7.8 | 0 | 14.8 | 4.0 |
| Jul | 32° / 23° | 160 | 12.8 | 0 | 14.5 | 3.5 |
| Aug | 31° / 22° | 119 | 10.5 | 0 | 13.6 | 4.4 |
| Sep | 27° / 16° | 57 | 7.1 | 0 | 12.3 | 6.9 |
| Oct | 20° / 8° | 33 | 4.3 | 0 | 10.9 | 7.4 |
| Nov | 10° / -1° | 14 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 9.8 | 3.1 |
| Dec | 3° / -6° | 3 | 1 | 1.1 | 9.2 | 0.0 |
Chance of rain
How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.
Beijing gets about 532 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is some rain, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.
The wetter season lasts 4.3 months, from around Jun 2 to Oct 9, peaking in July at about 44% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Jan 22.
July is the wettest month by volume, with 160 mm over about 13 wet days; January is the driest, with 3 mm. Some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rain on a day (%) | 3 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 16 | 25 | 41 | 34 | 24 | 14 | 7 | 4 |
| Rain days | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Rain on a day (%) | Rain days | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3 | 1 |
| Feb | 4 | 1 |
| Mar | 8 | 2 |
| Apr | 13 | 4 |
| May | 16 | 5 |
| Jun | 25 | 8 |
| Jul | 41 | 13 |
| Aug | 34 | 11 |
| Sep | 24 | 7 |
| Oct | 14 | 4 |
| Nov | 7 | 2 |
| Dec | 4 | 1 |
Monthly rainfall
Over a full year, Beijing collects about 532 mm of rain across 59 wet days — roughly 44 mm in an average month.
It doesn’t fall evenly. July is the wettest month with 160 mm, while January is the driest at just 3 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 66% of the year’s total, and some of the cold-season precipitation falls as snow.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rainfall (mm) | 3 | 5 | 9 | 19 | 35 | 74 | 160 | 119 | 57 | 33 | 14 | 3 |
| Rain days | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Snow days | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Rainfall (mm) | Rain days | Snow days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Feb | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Mar | 9 | 2 | 1 |
| Apr | 19 | 4 | 0 |
| May | 35 | 5 | 0 |
| Jun | 74 | 8 | 0 |
| Jul | 160 | 13 | 0 |
| Aug | 119 | 11 | 0 |
| Sep | 57 | 7 | 0 |
| Oct | 33 | 4 | 0 |
| Nov | 14 | 2 | 1 |
| Dec | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Snow in Beijing
Average snowy days through the year, the snow-season span, and estimated snowfall — for ski trips and the perennial 'will there be snow at Christmas?' question.
Beijing averages about 5 snowy days a year. Snow season runs roughly Nov 3 to Mar 26 — about 4.7 months.
December is snowiest, with roughly 1.1 day of snow and an estimated 5 cm of snowfall. Over the year that adds up to an estimated 18 cm of snow.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snow days | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Snowfall (cm) | 3 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
| Snow days | Snowfall (cm) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 1 | 3 |
| Feb | 1 | 4 |
| Mar | 1 | 3 |
| Apr | 0 | 0 |
| May | 0 | 0 |
| Jun | 0 | 0 |
| Jul | 0 | 0 |
| Aug | 0 | 0 |
| Sep | 0 | 0 |
| Oct | 0 | 0 |
| Nov | 1 | 4 |
| Dec | 1 | 5 |
Clouds and sunshine
How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.
In Beijing, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.
The clearer part of the year begins around September 26 and lasts for 6.8 months, ending around April 19. The clearest month is December, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 81% of the time on average.
The cloudier part of the year begins around April 20 and lasts for 5.2 months, ending around September 25. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 56% of the time.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clearer (%) | 79 | 75 | 69 | 66 | 58 | 50 | 44 | 51 | 62 | 70 | 76 | 81 |
| Cloudier (%) | 21 | 25 | 31 | 34 | 42 | 50 | 56 | 49 | 38 | 30 | 24 | 19 |
| Clearer (%) | Cloudier (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 79 | 21 |
| Feb | 75 | 25 |
| Mar | 69 | 31 |
| Apr | 66 | 34 |
| May | 58 | 42 |
| Jun | 50 | 50 |
| Jul | 44 | 56 |
| Aug | 51 | 49 |
| Sep | 62 | 38 |
| Oct | 70 | 30 |
| Nov | 76 | 24 |
| Dec | 81 | 19 |
Daylight, sunrise and sunset
Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.
The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 10, brings about 14 h 48 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 9 h 12 min — a swing of roughly 5 h 36 min.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.5 | 10.4 | 11.7 | 13.0 | 14.2 | 14.8 | 14.5 | 13.6 | 12.3 | 10.9 | 9.8 | 9.2 |
| Sunrise (AM) | 7:40 | 7:16 | 6:34 | 5:43 | 5:05 | 4:50 | 5:03 | 5:31 | 6:01 | 6:32 | 7:07 | 7:35 |
| Sunset (PM) | 5:08 | 5:42 | 6:14 | 6:46 | 7:17 | 7:39 | 7:37 | 7:06 | 6:16 | 5:27 | 4:52 | 4:46 |
| Daylight (h) | Sunrise (AM) | Sunset (PM) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 9.5 | 7:40 | 5:08 |
| Feb | 10.4 | 7:16 | 5:42 |
| Mar | 11.7 | 6:34 | 6:14 |
| Apr | 13.0 | 5:43 | 6:46 |
| May | 14.2 | 5:05 | 7:17 |
| Jun | 14.8 | 4:50 | 7:39 |
| Jul | 14.5 | 5:03 | 7:37 |
| Aug | 13.6 | 5:31 | 7:06 |
| Sep | 12.3 | 6:01 | 6:16 |
| Oct | 10.9 | 6:32 | 5:27 |
| Nov | 9.8 | 7:07 | 4:52 |
| Dec | 9.2 | 7:35 | 4:46 |
Sunny days
How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.
Beijing averages about 16 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 8 and 23 days.
The sunnier stretch runs 6.1 months, from around Sep 22 to Mar 26. The sunniest month is December, with roughly 22 sunny days (bright).
The greyest month is July, down near 9 sunny days — about 60% fewer than the December peak.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sunny days | 22 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 20 | 22 |
| Sky | Bright | Bright | Bright | Bright | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Mixed | Bright | Bright | Bright |
| Sunny days | Sky | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22 | Bright |
| Feb | 17 | Bright |
| Mar | 17 | Bright |
| Apr | 15 | Bright |
| May | 14 | Mixed |
| Jun | 10 | Mixed |
| Jul | 9 | Mixed |
| Aug | 11 | Mixed |
| Sep | 15 | Mixed |
| Oct | 19 | Bright |
| Nov | 20 | Bright |
| Dec | 22 | Bright |
Humidity comfort
Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.
Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.
In Beijing, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.
The more humid part of the year lasts 3.5 months, from around June 6 to September 19. The muggiest month is July, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 91% of the time.
The most comfortable stretch runs from around September 20 to June 5, and April is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 100% of the time.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry (%) | 100 | 100 | 100 | 99 | 84 | 33 | 3 | 4 | 41 | 92 | 100 | 100 |
| Comfortable (%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 22 | 5 | 6 | 24 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Humid (%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 23 | 13 | 16 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Muggy (%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 29 | 30 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Oppressive (%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 37 | 34 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Miserable (%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dry (%) | Comfortable (%) | Humid (%) | Muggy (%) | Oppressive (%) | Miserable (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Feb | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Apr | 99 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May | 84 | 11 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun | 33 | 22 | 23 | 16 | 5 | 0 |
| Jul | 3 | 5 | 13 | 29 | 37 | 13 |
| Aug | 4 | 6 | 16 | 30 | 34 | 10 |
| Sep | 41 | 24 | 20 | 11 | 3 | 0 |
| Oct | 92 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Wind
Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.
This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.
Across the year, average wind speed in Beijing is typically calm, near 8 km/h, and varies little with the seasons.
The windier part of the year lasts 4.8 months, from around Jan 27 to Jun 21. The windiest month is April, averaging about 10 km/h (calm).
The calmer part of the year runs from around Jun 22 to Jan 26, with August the calmest month at about 6 km/h.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wind speed (km/h) | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Feels | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm | calm |
| Wind speed (km/h) | Feels | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7 | calm |
| Feb | 8 | calm |
| Mar | 9 | calm |
| Apr | 10 | calm |
| May | 9 | calm |
| Jun | 8 | calm |
| Jul | 7 | calm |
| Aug | 6 | calm |
| Sep | 7 | calm |
| Oct | 7 | calm |
| Nov | 7 | calm |
| Dec | 7 | calm |
Hazard calendar for Beijing
When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.
Beijing's rainy season runs June–August, when most of the year's rain falls.
Beijing sees seasonal dust haze (April–June), heaviest in May.
Best time to visit Beijing
To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Beijing throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.
Around early May, Beijing is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.
Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.
The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Beijing for general outdoor tourist activities run from late March to mid May and again from mid September to late October, with a peak score in the last week of April.
The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Travel score (0–10) | 0.0 | 0.9 | 4.7 | 7.7 | 6.4 | 4.0 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 6.9 | 7.3 | 3.1 | 0.1 |
| Rating | poor | poor | fair | ideal | good | fair | fair | fair | good | good | poor | poor |
| Travel score (0–10) | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0.0 | poor |
| Feb | 0.9 | poor |
| Mar | 4.7 | fair |
| Apr | 7.7 | ideal |
| May | 6.4 | good |
| Jun | 4.0 | fair |
| Jul | 3.5 | fair |
| Aug | 4.5 | fair |
| Sep | 6.9 | good |
| Oct | 7.3 | good |
| Nov | 3.1 | poor |
| Dec | 0.1 | poor |
The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best times of year to visit Beijing for hot-weather activities run from late April to late June and again from mid August to early October, with a peak score in the third week of May.
The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).
What to pack for Beijing, by month
Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.
For a warm-season trip around June (highs near 32°C), the essentials are light clothes and sun protection. In the cold season around January (highs near 2°C), pack a warm layer and a heavy coat.
In June, Beijing sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 20°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: sun protection. About 8 days see rain.
UV index (midday) in Beijing by month
Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.
Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Beijing peaks around June 11 at about 7 (very high) — sunscreen and a hat are worth it in the middle of the day. It bottoms out near December 21 at about 1 (low).
The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — in 8 months of the year.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV index (midday) | 2 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Level | Low | Moderate | Moderate | High | High | Very high | High | High | High | Moderate | Low | Low |
| UV index (midday) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2 | Low |
| Feb | 2 | Moderate |
| Mar | 3 | Moderate |
| Apr | 6 | High |
| May | 7 | High |
| Jun | 7 | Very high |
| Jul | 6 | High |
| Aug | 5 | High |
| Sep | 6 | High |
| Oct | 4 | Moderate |
| Nov | 2 | Low |
| Dec | 1 | Low |
Average hourly UV index in Beijing
Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.
The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.
UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 7.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 3.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UV ≥ 3 (h/day) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7.5 | 7.5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 3.5 | 0 | 0 |
| UV ≥ 6 (h/day) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0 | 1.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| UV ≥ 3 (h/day) | UV ≥ 6 (h/day) | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 0 | 0 |
| Feb | 0 | 0 |
| Mar | 3 | 0 |
| Apr | 6 | 0 |
| May | 7.5 | 3 |
| Jun | 7.5 | 3.5 |
| Jul | 7 | 1.5 |
| Aug | 6 | 0 |
| Sep | 6 | 1.5 |
| Oct | 3.5 | 0 |
| Nov | 0 | 0 |
| Dec | 0 | 0 |
Air quality in Beijing by month
Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.
Air quality in Beijing is worst in January — around 69 µg/m³ PM2.5 (unhealthy), about 2.0× the cleanest month (June, 34 µg/m³).
Seasonal pattern from CAMS reanalysis, scaled to Beijing's WHO annual average of 50.6 µg/m³.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 (µg/m³) | 69 | 63 | 57 | 41 | 35 | 34 | 35 | 37 | 46 | 57 | 67 | 67 |
| Level | Unhealthy | Unhealthy | Unhealthy | Poor | Poor | Moderate | Moderate | Poor | Poor | Unhealthy | Unhealthy | Unhealthy |
| PM2.5 (µg/m³) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 69 | Unhealthy |
| Feb | 63 | Unhealthy |
| Mar | 57 | Unhealthy |
| Apr | 41 | Poor |
| May | 35 | Poor |
| Jun | 34 | Moderate |
| Jul | 35 | Moderate |
| Aug | 37 | Poor |
| Sep | 46 | Poor |
| Oct | 57 | Unhealthy |
| Nov | 67 | Unhealthy |
| Dec | 67 | Unhealthy |
Growing season
The growing season in Beijing typically lasts about 243 days, from around March 15 to November 12 — the span where a frost-free day is more likely than not. It is reliably frost-free from April 3 to October 30.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frost-free chance (%) | 1 | 4 | 54 | 97 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 98 | 41 | 1 |
| Frost nights | 31 | 28 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 30 | 31 |
| Frost-free chance (%) | Frost nights | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 1 | 31 |
| Feb | 4 | 28 |
| Mar | 54 | 31 |
| Apr | 97 | 1 |
| May | 100 | 0 |
| Jun | 100 | 0 |
| Jul | 100 | 0 |
| Aug | 100 | 0 |
| Sep | 100 | 0 |
| Oct | 98 | 1 |
| Nov | 41 | 30 |
| Dec | 1 | 31 |
Growing degree days
Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Beijing banks about 2,526 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around July.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Growing degree days (°C·days) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 153 | 367 | 488 | 545 | 504 | 341 | 123 | 0 | 0 |
| Growing degree days (°C·days) | |
|---|---|
| Jan | 0 |
| Feb | 0 |
| Mar | 2 |
| Apr | 153 |
| May | 367 |
| Jun | 488 |
| Jul | 545 |
| Aug | 504 |
| Sep | 341 |
| Oct | 123 |
| Nov | 0 |
| Dec | 0 |
Solar energy
Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.
Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.
Beijing receives about 4.3 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 2.3 and 6.3 kWh/m².
The brighter stretch of the year lasts 6.7 months, from around Mar 4 to Sep 22. The brightest month is May, averaging about 6.1 kWh/m² (intense).
The dimmest month is December, down near 2.3 kWh/m² — roughly 62% less than the May peak.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solar energy (kWh/m²) | 2.7 | 3.6 | 4.8 | 5.6 | 6.1 | 5.9 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 2.6 | 2.3 |
| Level | Moderate | Moderate | Bright | Bright | Intense | Bright | Bright | Bright | Bright | Moderate | Moderate | Moderate |
| Solar energy (kWh/m²) | Level | |
|---|---|---|
| Jan | 2.7 | Moderate |
| Feb | 3.6 | Moderate |
| Mar | 4.8 | Bright |
| Apr | 5.6 | Bright |
| May | 6.1 | Intense |
| Jun | 5.9 | Bright |
| Jul | 5.2 | Bright |
| Aug | 4.9 | Bright |
| Sep | 4.5 | Bright |
| Oct | 3.6 | Moderate |
| Nov | 2.6 | Moderate |
| Dec | 2.3 | Moderate |
Where is Beijing?
Beijing sits at 39.9°N, 116.4°E, 49 m above sea level, in China. The nearest listed city is Tianjin, 108 km away.
What Beijing looks like
Topography around Beijing
How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Beijing.
Within 3 km, the terrain around Beijing has only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 51 m around an average of 48 m above sea level; within 16 km, only modest variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 107 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 2,093 m.
The land around Beijing is covered by artificial surfaces (82%) within 3 km, artificial surfaces (70%) and trees (21%) within 16 km, and cropland (35%), trees (34%) and artificial surfaces (21%) within 80 km.
China travel facts
- Travel advisory
- Level 2
- Exercise Increased Caution
- Power plugs
- Type A / I
- 220 V · 50 Hz
- Prices
- ≈ 47% of US
- price level, 2025
- GDP per capita
- $13,862
- 2025
- Happiness
- 6.1 / 10
- World Happiness, 2025
- Homicide rate
- 0.5
- per 100k, 2020
- Road deaths
- 17.4
- per 100k/yr, 2019
- Income group
- Upper middle
- World Bank
- English
- Low
- EF EPI 464
- Religion
Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.
Data sources
Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Beijing (39.9075°, 116.3972°, elevation 49 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).