Average Monthly Sunshine in Beijing

The graphs on this page shows the average number of hours per month and per day that Beijing receives direct sunlight. The numbers are calculated over a 30-year period to provide a reliable average.

Monthly hours of sunshine

Beijing experiences sunny spells throughout the year. The sunniest month, May, sees up to 270 hours of sunshine, while December, the least sunny month, still provides a respectable 172 hours. The total annual sunshine amounts to 2505 hours.

Daily hours of sunshine

Enjoy up to 9.0 hours of daily sun in May, and experience slightly darker atmosphere in December, with about 5.7 hours of daily sunlight.

Beijing’s total hours of sunshine compared to other major cities

Beijing enjoys an average of 2505 hours of sunshine annually. Let’s compare this with some popular tourist destinations:

Athens, Greece, enjoys 2769 hours of sunshine each year, making it one of the sunniest destinations in the Mediterranean region.

Manchester, UK, experiences just around 1420 hours of sunshine annually.

In Shanghai, China, the annual average sunshine is 1780 hours, with cloudier weather in summer.

In Brisbane, Australia, the annual sunshine averages 2999 hours, making it one of Australia’s sunniest cities.

Other climate information

July, Beijing’s wettest month, receives 161 mm of rainfall and has a maximum daytime temperature of 34°C. During the driest month January you can expect a temperature of 3°C.

For more detailed insights into the city’s temperatures, check out our Temperature page. To explore more about precipitation patterns, visit our Beijing Precipitation page.