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Climate · Beijing

Beijing in January

Cold and dry, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

January in Beijing is cold: highs near 38°F, lows near 17°F. Rain or snow is rare, and the days lengthen by 28 minutes from the first week to the last.January in Beijing is cold: highs near 3°C, lows near -8°C. Rain or snow is rare, and the days lengthen by 28 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
38°F3°Caverage
Low
17°F-8°Caverage
Wet days
0a week · 4% of days
Daylight
9h 41mon average

Is January a good time to visit Beijing?

January sits outside Beijing's best months, which run in two parts: April, or October. Expect cold days and rain or snow on fewer than one day a week.

How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 70°F to 80°F, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.How we judge it: every month is scored on how close its typical high comes to the range from 21°C to 27°C, how mild its nights are, and how rarely it rains. The best months are the run of months that scores best.

How January sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 38°F in January, against 38°F to 93°F through the year.Highs near 3°C in January, against 3°C to 34°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

4% of days in January, against 4% to 40% through the year.

Cloud cover

26% cover in January, against 24% to 44% through the year.

Daylight

9h 41m in January, against 9h 23m to 14h 57m through the year.

Week by week, lightly smoothed, with January shaded. The olive line marks the best months. Hover or tap a week for its figures.

Either side

  1. December41°5°low 20°low -7°no wet daysRain on fewer than one day a week.
  2. January38°3°low 17°low -8°no wet daysRain on fewer than one day a week.
  3. February44°7°low 21°low -6°no wet daysRain on fewer than one day a week.

Where Beijing sits, in January

Asia/Shanghai
this place
typical high in January 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-January
7:34 AMsets 5:12 PM
Above the sea
40 mlow-lying
Latitude
39.9°Nnorthern hemisphere
Nearest of ours
Shanghai1068 km south-east

The land around Beijing, shaded by its typical high in January, the planning map's own layer. Hover the map for the figure at that spot; tap it on a phone. Clock times are local, for the 15th.

Elsewhere in China in January

high · low · wet days
See January on the planning mapThe whole year in Beijing

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years (1995–2024), from the 11 km grid square nearest Beijing. Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 3.1°F cold in the source data and are raised to match.Temperatures are adjusted against 66 weather stations: daytime highs read about 1.7°C cold in the source data and are raised to match. Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not. Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.

Daylight is calculated from latitude. Charts are lightly smoothed week to week; the figures in the table are not.

Source: Copernicus ERA5-Land reanalysis; cloud cover from NASA's MERRA-2 reanalysis, on a coarser grid of about 50 km. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026; neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of it. These are averages, not a forecast.