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New year festival, Lhasa
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| Quick facts about China |
| Country code: CN | | Zone: Asia | | Country local name: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo | | Demonym: Chinese | | Official languages: Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka | | Driving on the right side of the road | | Currency: CNY (Yuan Renminbi) | | Internet TLD: .cn | | Calling code: +86 | | Time zone: UTC/GMT +8 hours | | Population: 1.321.851.888 | | Capital: Beijing | | Biggest city: Chongqing |
| Borders: Afghanistan, Bhutan, India, Kyrgyzstan, Korea (North), Kazakhstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Vietnam, Macau, Hong Kong |
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The climate of China varies greatly. The northern zone (containing Beijing) has summer daytime temperatures of more than 30 degrees Celsius and winters of Arctic severity. The central zone (containing Shanghai) has a temperate continental climate with very hot summers and cold winters. The southern zone (containing Guangzhou) has a subtropical climate with very hot summers and mild winters.
Due to a prolonged drought and poor agricultural practices, dust storms have become usual in the spring in China.
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 for intense heat at 32 centigrade on average. There are also the famous 'Three Ovens' cities along the Yangtze River in summer: Chongqing, Wuhan, and Nanjing.
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.
Monsoon
In summer, a southeast monsoon from the western Pacific Ocean and a southwest monsoon from the equatorial Indian Ocean blow onto the Chinese mainland. These monsoons are the main cause of rainfall.
Starting in April and May, the summer rainy season monsoons hit the southern provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan. In June, the rains blow northward, and South China gets more rainfall with the poetic name, plum-rain weather, since this is the moment when plums mellow. North China greets its rainy season in July and August, says farewell in September; gradually in October the summer monsoons retreat from Chinese land.
Eastern China experiences many climate changes, while the northwest area is a non-monsoon region.
When to go
Spring and autumn are best seasons to visit China. High regions as Tibet, Qinghai and Western Sichuan are best visited in high summer.
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