Taking the temperature to discover why Beijing is so cold this year
Personally, day-to-day weather was more than a talking point; it was a major element within my academic studies and through years of teaching geography. Indeed for a morning radio program, City Rhythm on Radio Beijing, I delighted in presenting the latest weather information.
Understanding climate, predicting daily changes and trends can be truly fascinating particularly considering the size of China. The country has a wide range of climatic zones each creating different scenarios experienced while traveling across this vast land. In Beijing there are clear mostly stable seasonal patterns. Beautiful but unfortunately short spring and autumn, hot humid summers, dry and at times cold winters, a situation so different to southern areas of China.
I recall, with pleasure, heading from Guangzhou to Sanya on Hainan Island in January 1993. Sitting outdoors, having a cool drink on Luhuitou Hill, flowers in bloom, I looked over Dadonghai Bay while thinking "I'm in heaven!". It was 26 degrees, a clear blue sky, no wind, perfect weather for walking, to enjoy the beauty of southern Hainan. Understandably today it is a major destination for winter tourism.
In the late 1990s, I took the train north from Guangzhou to Beijing. It was a warm morning as we departed, heading toward the mountainous border between Guangdong and Hunan. Emerging from a long series of tunnels, approaching Chenzhou, it was cloudy and damp. Reaching Changsha, wet snow was falling; indeed it remained gray and very overcast right up to Wuhan where I decided to sleep after crossing the Changjiang Bridge. Next morning, passing Zhengzhou before rolling north from Henan through Hebei, the sky was clear, rivers and ponds covered with ice. Although it was cold descending from the train at Beijing Railway Station, thankfully heating was good in my hotel. In Guangzhou my room was not heated but it had air conditioning!
