Sichuan is located in the transitional zone between Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the eastern plains and therefore has complex and diverse climates with rather obvious regional differences and vertical changes. There are distinct disparities between east and west Sichuan as well. Sichuan is generally divided into three major climate zones: humid subtropical climate zone of Sichuan Basin, sub-humid and subtropical climate zone of southwest Sichuan’s mountainous regions, and alpine climate zone of high mountains and plateaus of northwest Sichuan. 

The overall characteristics of Sichuan’s climate can be summarized as follows: monsoon climate is obvious and rain and heat happens in the same seasons; regional climate differences are prominent in that the east is characterized by warm winters, early springs, hot summers, rainy autumns, much cloud and fog, little sunshine and a long growing season while the west is characterized by coldness, long winters, almost no summer, sufficient sunshine, concentrated rainfall and distinct dry and rainy seasons; vertical climate changes are significant and climate types are varied; meteorological disasters happen in various forms with a high frequency and large scope, which are mainly droughts, rainstorms, floods and cold weather.

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Climate & Weatehr in Sichuan Basin
Sichuan Basin features a subtropical monsoon climate, characterized by a warm winter, arid spring, hot summer and rainy autumn. The average temperature is 5-8℃in January and 25-29℃ in July, with an annual average temperature of 15-19℃ and a frost-free period of 280-300 days. Its average temperature in January is higher by over 3 degrees than that of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River with the same latitude, resulting in a foggy and moist weather with few sunshine hours. Chengdu experiences 250-300 rainy days a year, a climate featured by more rain and less sunlight.

Climate & Weatehr in Southwestern Sichuan
Southwestern Sichuan Mountains have a vertical climatic zone. For example, within a height difference of 6,500 m from the bank of Dadu River to the peak of Gongga Mountain, there are representative plants of subtropical zone, warm temperate zone, temperate zone, cold temperate zone, sub-frigid zone and frigid zone. Glaciers, indicative of frozen zone, can be found only 2,800 m above sea level and is said to be the lowest glacier by latitude in the world. The Jinshajiang River Valley features a south subtropical climate, similar to that of Xishuangbanna, Yunnan. The transition of dry and wet seasons is quite obvious. The rainy season is from May to September while the dry season is from October to the next April. With plenty of sunshine and warm winters, it is an ideal winter resort.

Climate & Weatehr in Northwestern Sichuan
Northwest Sichuan Plateau is in the subtropical zone but it has a typical plateau climate - a long winter and no summer; low precipitation with concentrated rainfall; large temperature difference between day and night, strong sunlight and plenty of sunshine. In a sharp contrast to that in the Basin area, its annual sunshine reaches 2500 hours. Ganzi, known as the “Little Sun City,” has the most sunshine in Sichuan Province. Shiqu, called the “cold pole” in Sichuan, has an annual average temperature of -1.6℃, an average temperature -12.5℃ and an extreme minimum temperature of -35.0℃ in January.

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