Temperature Zones of China

Temperature zones in China are greatly influenced by the latitude and monsoon seasons. In winter, an isotherm of zero degrees traverses the Huaihe River-Qinling Mountain-southeast Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Areas north of the isotherm have temperatures below zero degrees and south of it, above zero. Mohe Town in Heilongjiang Province can hit an average of 30 degrees centigrade below zero, while temperature in Hainan Province is above 20 degrees.

In summer, most of areas are above 20 centigrade, despite the high Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other mountains such as Tianshan. Among these hot places, Turpan Basin in Xinjiang is the center of intense heat at 32 centigrade on an average. There are also the famous 'Three Ovens' cities along the Yangtze River : Chongqing, Wuhan, and Nanjing. They are so called in summer.

From north to south, there are five temperature zones and a plateau-climate zone: one cold-temperate zone, mid-temperate zone, warm-temperate zone, subtropical zone, tropical zone and a plateau climate zone.

The temperatures prevailing over the various regions of China are as follows:
Cold-temperate zone: north part of Heilongjiang Province and Inner Mongolia
Mid-temperate zone: Jilin, northern Xinjiang, and most of Heilongjiang, Liaoning, and Inner Mongolia
Warm-temperate zone: area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, Shandong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Hebei Province.

Subtropical zone: South of isotherm of Qinling Mountain-Huaihe River, east of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Tropical zone: Hainan province, southern Taiwan, Guangdong, and Yunnan Province
Plateau climate zone: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.