Global and Local Winds in China

1.  China is a very large land mass found between about 20° to 55° north latitude and between approximately 75° to 135° east longitude, entirely within the northern hemisphere.  Based on it’s position within the lines of latitude it falls within both the Hadley and Ferrell atmospheric cells although the majority of the land mass falls in the Ferrell cell (Ahrens, 2012).  Furthermore based on this information we can generally conclude that China predominantly experiences Westerly Winds in its temperate region but also experiences the Northeastern Trades.  Again China is a very large nation so accurately describing wind direction for the whole state is not feasible.  Looking specifically at Beijing the Westerlies influence local winds more so in the winter months with winds out of the northwest.  While winds from the southeast predominate during the summer months. From: http://www.windfinder.com/windstatistics/beijing_capital_airport.  
      
China's geographic location is over the Subtropical High Pressure Belt. However, the 
pressure systems that most influences China's weather is more localized. During the winter months it is the Siberian High Pressure System while the high pressure system during the summer come from the Pacific and Indian Ocean. From: http://www.bbc.com/weather/features/17929643.  The northern border of China is definitely effected by the polar fronts during the winter months.          

2.  China's geographic position primarily in the Ferrell Cell as well as it's northern hemisphere location we anticipate that Westerlies will influence weather in that country from the Arctic region.  In fact this is for much of the country true.  Cool dry winds do come from Siberian High Pressure systems during the winter.  The result is dry and very cold climate in much of China during that period.   See the global map below note the high pressure system in the center of Asia it encompasses large portion of Central Asia including Kazakhstan, China, and Russia.  

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR7eMWJI3_YVMSg6VzGwTNQwBj7jZc6G8KIunzhYf0o78wZcMtZ

      In the summer months the high pressure systems are found in the western Pacific which are responsible for the Northeast Trades.  As they cross the Pacific they are moving to the Southwest, however they approach China most often from the south perhaps as they collide with High Pressure systems from the southern hemisphere, which are responsible for the Aisatic Summer Monsoons.  The resulting summer climate is therefore both warm to hot and wet.  

     

https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTFVDDZh-JIS2Zz_UGpTJNZXNKeUv8anKLTbIRJun1zsh8Hezc-lA

3.  China is a country surrounded by mountains.  The Himalayas in the south being the most well known but mountain ranges extend up the western border of China and then continue back to the east on the northern border regions.  Additionally China has mountain ranges from the eastern edge of the Himalayas up to the northeast through central China.  Winds and breezes associated with mountains include both mountain and valley breezes but also Katabatic, Chinook (or Foehn), and Santa Ana Winds.  China experiences both mountain and valley breezes, Chi'ing Fung is an example of gently breeze found in China.  From:  http://windlegends.org/windnames.htm.  Additionally China certainly has Katabatic type winds that descend from the Himalayas, the Tibetan Plateau and the myriad of other mountains the country.

          The other major feature surrounding China is a very long coastline at least over 2300 kilometers long starting at the Gulf of Tonkin to the south at it's border with Vietnam and working up to the north and east to the Yellow Sea where it borders with North Korea.  China experiences both land and sea breezes associated with coastlines.                   

                 

Temperature Controls in the city of Beijing in China.

1)  Beijing is the capital city of China and is located in the northeastern part of the country about 250 km west of the Yellow Sea and 600 km south of Mongolia in the North China Plains nestled at the foothills of the Xishan and Yanshan mountain ranges.

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_Beijing

The city center of Beijing is Tian'anman, which is located at 39.9 N. Latitude and 116.4 E. Longitude.  

From:  http://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/beijing-facts.htm

2)  The warmest month in Beijing is July with an average monthly temperature of 78.6 degrees F and the coldest month is January with an average monthly temperature of 24.3 degrees F.

Based on the information above the annual range of temperature for Beijing, China is 54.3 degrees F.

Website where I found this information: http://www.beijing.climatemps.com/beijing-climograph.gif

3)  Beijing's temperature is most likely controlled by it's Latitude and Geographic Position.  Beijing's cold dry winters are attributed to prevailing winter winds that sweep from the Gobi Desert to the northwest.  Conversely the hot and wet summers can be attributed to prevailing winds from the ocean to the east.  

From:  http://english.gov.cn/2005-10/21/content_81272.htm

4)  Based on the fact that Beijing is not directly adjacent to a large body of water like the Yellow Sea it is not likely that Beijing's climate is heavily affected by the differential heating between land and water.   Remember Beijing is located a good 250 km  from the Yellow Sea.

5) China is both one of the largest culprits to climate change as well as one of the countries that will face the most detrimental effects if the worst is to come.  Beijing, particularly is a city that will reap the worldwind of negative global impacts of climate change.  For example the fact that the population of Beijing continues to grow despite the concerns attributed to over population for a regional area should be a major concern for the country of China.   The bottom line is that as long as urban populations such as Beijing continue their exponential growth, which contribute to the overcrowding of specifically large urban cities in China.  For example the biggest problem will be associated more with pollution than other aspects of climate change.