Chinese Rainy Season: Plum Rains 梅雨

Rainy Season applies to different parts of China at different times over the course of the spring and summer. If you will be in China between April and July and will be traveling around the country, then it is highly likely that you will hit rainy season in some part of China.

Rainy season starts in the south and moves north as the months go by. South China will be rainier earlier in the spring from April-May. The plum rains,梅雨 meiyu, or “may yoo” in Mandarin, nicknamed for the season when the fruit ripens, hit eastern China in May-June. The rains move north from June-July.

梅雨 méiyǔ

July and August are Shanghai’s two hottest months with an average temperature of 28°C / 82°F. Early July is still within the Plum Rain Season (Meiyu Season), when showers alternate with sunshine and the weather is really hard to predict. When it is sunny, it is scorching; when it rains or when there is a typhoon, it becomes cooler. Sometimes, thunderstorms and lightening occur.