Kunming Weather and Climate

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Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan Province has gained the reputation of being the “Spring City” because four seasons in Kunming are all as warm and comfortable as spring. Also, without pollution, the air in Kunming is quite good. When some other cities in China suffer from fog and haze, Kunming is always sunny with lovely blue sky.

Kunming in Winter

Kunming Weather and Climate

Kunming is under the control of a low latitude subtropical-plateau mountain monsoon climate. Due to warm and humid airflow from the southwest Indian Ocean, Kunming has long sunshine duration and it frost period is short, with the annual average temperature of 15 ℃ and the annual average sunshine time of 2200 hours plus over 240 days the frost-free period. Mild climate, no extreme heat in summer, no very coldness in winter, there four seasons as spring, all those features make it such a pleasant climate in Kunming. Kunming has the annual rainfall of 1035mm, possessing the typical temperate climate characteristics. The urban temperature of Kunming city is between 0 ~ 29 ℃, and the annual temperature difference is smallest in the whole country. Such climate is rare even in the world. With flowers blooming all year round andevergreenvegetation, it is the famous "Spring City", "Flower City."

Kunming has a big daily temperature difference with high level of ultraviolet intensity. There is a saying goes like “there are four season in one day; winter is coming as long as raining”. In winter the daily temperature different can reach to 12～20℃, while in summer the difference is 4～10℃。

In a conclusion, the main features of the climate in Kunming are as follows: The spring is warm and dry, lake of rain but strong in evaporation, big daily temperature difference. There is no extreme heat in summer. Rainy days are concentrated and majority of them are heavy rains, accounting more than 60% of total annual precipitation. The autumn here is cool and bright with less rain. The temperature drops fast and in most of areas the temperature is about 2 degrees lower than that of in spring. The winter is not very cold with plenty of sunshine but very less rain.

It is worthy of mentioning that Kunming has really good air quality. According to the statistics issued by the official, Kunming has always ranked the tops. So, if you go to Kunming, you can also fresh your lung.

Beautiful Autumn Scenery of Kunming

Best Time to Visit Kunming

The best time to travel Kunming is from March to October.

Kunming is suitable for tourism all year round, but the best time to travel is from March to October, when there are most beautiful sceneries and the largest number of festivals of the ethnic minorities in Yunnan, also the most fruit and flowers. You can also see the snow-capped mountains if you visit Kunming at early spring. Anyway, you will harvest a lot at this time.

Because of big daily temperature difference, if you visit Kunming, please make sure that you take a sweater or jacket with you, especially in spring and winter. It is the rain season for Kunming from May to October, which means that there would be some rain almost every day. As long as raining, the temperature will drop, so you'd better take a coat.

In addition, there are many ethnic minorities, therefore, there are many different ethnic festivals in Kunming. For example, in March of every year, people in Kunming will have the customary activities called “March 3, playing Western hills”; the famous Torch Festival celebrated by Yi people is usually hold in June of the lunar calendar; the Water-Sprinkling Festival of Dai people hold in April each year; whilst the Tiaoyue celebration of Buyi people is held at Feb.13 to 15 and etc. Therefore, it is a good way to choose the time for trip according to the different ethnic holidays. It should also be mentioned that if you want to see the green-eyed gull in Chestwood Park, you can go there only in winter.

Kunming in Summer

Best Time to Visit Dianchi Lake and Xishan

The best time to visit Dianchi Lake and Western Hills Area is in spring and summer. This area is located in the southwest of Kunming City, adjoining to the Grand View Park in its North and Jinning County in its South. It has been a tourist attraction and summer resort from ancient time. On March 3 of each year, people will crowd up to the mountain, playing, singing and enjoying the beauty of nature. Xishan Mountain (also known as Western Hills) is all covered by the large green trees and many human landscapes such as Huating Temple, Taihua Temple, NieEr Tomb, Longmen which forms a group of architectures above cliffs along with Sanqing Pavilion and so on.

Dianci in Summer

Best Time to Stone Forest

Stone Forest is a scenic area located in Stone Forest Yi Autonomous County, Kunming, Yunnan Province, also one of the world natural heritages. It has the most extensive distribution of world's oldest karst topography with the longest evolution history and various types as well as shapes. It is known as "the best in the world wonders". So you are suggested not to miss this scenic spot. The best time to visit stone Forest is also from March to October. Besides that during this period the flowers bloom everywhere; stone forest is located in subtropical humid zone and in high altitude, therefore, you won’t feel very hot or very cold there. However, there usually are many visitors, so if you want to feel the other side of stone forest, you can also choose to come in other seasons.

Stone Forest in Spring