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Climate · Beijing

Beijing in May

Hot and mostly dry, as the days lengthen.

Typical weather, averaged over 30 years

May in Beijing is hot: highs near 85°F, lows near 57°F. Rain falls on about one day a week, and the days lengthen by 50 minutes from the first week to the last.May in Beijing is hot: highs near 29°C, lows near 14°C. Rain falls on about one day a week, and the days lengthen by 50 minutes from the first week to the last.

High
85°F29°Caverage
Low
57°F14°Caverage
Wet days
1a week · 16% of days
Daylight
14h 22mon average

Is May a good time to visit Beijing?

A good month, just outside Beijing's best months, which run in two parts: April, or October.

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 May sits in the year

week by week

Temperature

Highs near 85°F in May, against 38°F to 93°F through the year.Highs near 29°C in May, against 3°C to 34°C through the year.

Chance of a wet day

16% of days in May, against 4% to 40% through the year.

Cloud cover

40% cover in May, against 24% to 44% through the year.

Daylight

14h 22m in May, against 9h 23m to 14h 57m through the year.

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

Either side

  1. April72°22°low 44°low 7°1 wet day a weekRain on about one day a week.
  2. May85°29°low 57°low 14°1 wet day a weekRain on about one day a week.
  3. June93°34°low 67°low 19°2 wet days a weekRain on about two days a week.

Where Beijing sits, in May

Asia/Shanghai
this place
typical high in May 40°F4°C95°F35°C
Sunrise, mid-May
5:00 AMsets 7:21 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 May, 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 May

high · low · wet days
See May 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.