Inner Mongolia Climate

Inner Mongolia is the third largest province in China. Its east, south and west are adjacent to Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Ningxia and Gansu provinces accordingly, its territory passes three northern regions (northeast, north China and northwest) and close to Beijing and Tianjin, the northern part borders Mongolia and the Russian Federation.

Inner Mongolia Climate

Inner Mongolia is one of the coldest regions in China with an average daily high temperature of only 10 degrees centigrade. Due to its vast territory, with large plateau area far away from the sea, the climate is mainly featured by temperate continental monsoon climate, with major characteristics of sharp rise in spring temperature, windy weather, short and hot summer with concentrated precipitation, sharp fall in autumn temperature, early frost, long and severe winter.

Two Climatic Zones in Inner Mongolia

• Grassland Climatic Zone: Staring from Hulunbuir grassland in the eastern end to Hetao plain in Yin Mountains, it is icy and snowy in winter, lasting for half a year with an average temperature of 28 DC below zero. Climates in summer, spring and autumn are almost integrated. May to September is the best season for grassland tourism because of mild climate.
• Desert Climatic Zone: Staring from the Alxa desert plateau, west of Yin Mountains to the Badain Jaran desert, there are many storms in spring (mid April to late May), being extremely hot in summer and severe cold in winter, with only autumn (mid August to late September, about 40 days) enjoys a mild climate, which is the best season to travel to the desert.

Abundant Sunshine and Plentiful Light Resources

Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has abundant sunshine and plentiful light energy resources. Most areas of Inner Mongolia enjoy more than 2700 hours of sunshine per year, and the western part of Alxa Plateau has more than 3400 hours.

Temperature in Inner Mongolia

In 2017, the annual average temperature in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region was between -3.7 (Toury River)-11.2℃ (Ejina Banner). Compared with the average data of the same period in history, except for the mid-western region of Hulunbuir City, which is close to the perennial data, most of the region had generally higher temperature, with the mid-western region and the eastern part of Xingan League, the central part of Tongliao City and the northern part of Chifeng City being higher by 1.0-2.2℃ (Sonid Left Banner), and the rest being higher by 0.5-1.0℃. The average temperature in 2017 was 6.2℃ in the whole region, 1.1℃ higher than the historical average in the same period, 0.6℃ higher than the same period in the previous year, the third highest since 1961.

Best Time to Visit Inner Mongolia

The best time to travel in Inner Mongolia grassland areas is in summer, especially from July to September, while the best time to travel in Inner Mongolia desert areas is in autumn. However, the whole region spans a large longitude and there are certain differences between the eastern and western climates. Therefore, different seasons should be chosen for different destinations.

Travel Tips

For your Inner Mongolia tour in summer, you should prepare long-sleeved clothes for appropriate use for the temperature difference between day and night varies greatly. Winter is colder, thick clothing, leather hat, scarf, gloves, sunglasses, chilblain cream are necessary, besides, you have to wear snow jogging shoes with good warm performance and tight friction force.  Also, raincoat is needed, because the weather in the grassland areas changes a lot. 

Avoid Peak Seasons

In China, please had better not travel in peak seasons, such Chinese New Year, International Labor Day and National Day. The peak seasons for Inner Mongolia tourism are June, July, August when the land is in full green. September to October are high times for colorful scenery of fall . Early July is recommended for the biggest Mongolian festival Nadam Fair is held at the period, tourists can explore the ethic customs and enjoy local food while appreciating the amazing summer scenery.