A Short History of Rainfall in Beijing

Original Drew Pittock theBeijinger

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Last month we introduced you to the solar term guyu (谷雨) lit. "the rain for the crops," which occurs around Apr 20 and marks the official end of winter. If all goes according to plan, it's a time when rainfall is supposed to mix with warmer weather and soften up the previously frozen, hardened land, making it easier for farmers to sow seeds for their upcoming harvest. Although Beijing often sees a few days of rain around guyu, the Northern Capital more often welcomes the change in seasons with a run of dry, sun-drenched 35 degree days.

That’s all about to change, however, with showers forecast across China through Friday, in what may be a harbinger of the wetter summer months to come.

Emperor Spongebob pictured minutes before the citizens of Bikini Bottom toppled his dynasty

While you may not be ready to give up the unfettered vitamin D that we've been bingeing on the last few weeks, the expected rainfall is welcome news for Beijing’s climate, which has grappled with extreme drought conditions for decades, and is even thought to be the cause of more than a few Chinese dynastic downfalls.

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In this short-lived century alone, Beijing has seen a number of extended dry spells that scorched the city, each one trying valiantly to outdo the last. For instance, from 2010-11, 108 days of little to no rainfall resulted in strict water usage guidelines and a USD 30 billion water conservation investment project. Then, in 2014, a span of 104 days sucked the city dry like Dracula on a day trip to the blood bank. Luckily, the potential consequences of that barren Beijing were mitigated by the completion of the North-South Water Transfer project in 2014, which is the largest water diversion project in the world and pumps nearly 70 percent of the city’s water in from the Yangtze River. Nevertheless, Beijing wasn’t going to be spared for long, because in 2017-18, the city went a record-breaking 116 days with “no significant precipitation,” which topped the previous record of 114 days from 1971.

The US table tennis team enjoying a particularly dry visit to the Great Wall in 1971

Adding ecological insult to injury is the fact that, as anyone who’s been in Beijing for at least one seasonal cycle will tell you, in this city, when it rains it pours. As a result, the dry hillsides surrounding the city turn into torrential mudslides which lead to road closures and mad-dash efforts to relocate at-risk rural populations on the outskirts of the capital. No one gets off that easy though, as closer to home, in the center of town, flash floods threaten to topple pedestrians while they weave through city streets frantically seeking shelter. At its most perilous, rains have caused the city's subway system to flood, trapping and killing dozens of commuters, as is what happened in 2012. (Read our guide on how to best stay safe during heavy rainfall here.)

All of which is to say that when it comes to rain – or a lack thereof – in Beijing, you’re kind of damned if you do, and damned if you don’t. And while we don't expect to be pummeled by a deluge the likes of which hits the city as summer wears on, we would advise you be prepared for a few months of rainfall that's seemingly eager to make up for lost time.