Weather

    Spring in Beijing, lasting from March to May, includes sandstorms from the expanding Gobi Desert. The city is covered in a yellow fog, sometimes lasting for days, leaving everything coated in a thin layer of fine sand. Summers are long, hot, and humid with an average temperature in July of 30°C (87°F), but often topping 40°C (104°F) (rarely reaching 50°C (122°F) in August). More than half the city’s annual 27.6 inches (700mm) of rain falls in July and August. Winters are long, cold, and very dry with cold fronts and winds blowing in from Siberia. Average temperatures in January are -10°C (14°F). Average temperatures and rainfall vary according to the time of year.