Learning new seasons

While living in China [中国 - Zhōngguó] you will experience all four seasons of the year: in northern cities (such as Harbin, Shenyang, Beijing) winter is cold and exhaustingly long - starting from November it can last all the way until March; summer usually lasts from May to September, and it is known to be hot and humid - as actually in most Chinese regions. Spring and autumn are short, sometimes even hard to be noticed, yet very pleasant.

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Western China, including the region of Tibet, is mountainous, with lots of desert plateaus, and it builds up the corresponding climate - in winter it's dry and cold, which is rather severe, while in summer - moderately warm. 

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Eastern China is located in the subtropical climate zone which is mainly represented by mild winter and warm (sometimes too warm) humid summer. Humidity has a special place in this hierarchy - all cities located in this region (such as Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Jinan) frequently experience rainfalls, and overall level of humidity is very high.

However if you find yourself in Hainan or Yunnan southern Provinces, do not expect any winter at all! Sun [太阳 - tàiyáng] and rain [雨 - yǔ] - these are the two phenomena that will follow you all the way through.

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PS: you may have noticed that all names of seasons end with one and the same character [天 - tiān], which basically means "sky" or "weather". It will help you memorize seasons in Mandarin easier - instead of learning four completely different words you just have to say "spring+sky", "summer+sky" etc.:)

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We will discuss weather in more detail in our next lesson, so stay tuned!