- Weather, or 天气 (tiānqì), is one of the easiest small-talk topics in Chinese, and a few core sentence patterns will get you through almost any conversation.
- China measures temperature in Celsius (摄氏度), not Fahrenheit, and uses 零下 (língxià) to talk about temperatures below zero.
- Words like 雨 (rain) and 雪 (snow) shift between noun and verb depending on context, usually by adding 下 in front of them.
- Air quality, and PM2.5 readings in particular, comes up often in everyday conversation in many Chinese cities, especially in winter.
- Whether you're chatting with a taxi driver or a teacher, weather vocabulary is some of the most practical, everyday language you'll use if you're working to learn Chinese in China.
The weather touches almost every part of daily life, and shared weather experiences are one of the most common topics of conversation anywhere in the world. This guide covers all the vocabulary and grammar you need to talk about the weather in Chinese, no matter where you live.
Weather, known as 天气 (tiānqì) in Chinese, is a popular subject of discussion. Below, we'll explore basic weather-related terms, then move on to more advanced vocabulary for both everyday and extreme weather events.
One nice thing about talking about the weather is that there's always something to say. Whether it's spring (春天, chūntiān), summer (夏天, xiàtiān), fall (秋天, qiūtiān), or winter (冬天, dōngtiān), there's always something going on outside.
01 Basic Phrases for Talking About the Weather
Before diving into vocabulary for specific types of weather, it helps to know a few basic phrases. These cover most of what you'll need for everyday small talk, and they pair nicely with other practical Chinese travel phrases you might use when chatting with locals.
Asking and answering about the weather
If you'd rather ask someone how the weather is than check the weather report (天气预报, tiānqì yùbào) yourself, use this phrase:
今天天气怎么样？
Jīntiān tiānqì zěnme yàng?
How's the weather today?
If you're asked this question and don't want to get into specifics, it's perfectly fine to respond with something more general.
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 今天天气很好 | The weather's great today | |
| 今天天气不错 | The weather's really nice today | |
| 今天天气不好 | The weather's bad today |
今天天气怎么样？ "How's the weather today?" 今天天气很好，大概25度。 "The weather's great today — about 25 degrees." This simple question-and-answer pattern works in almost any casual conversation.
Talking about temperature
Temperature (温度, wēndù) is another important topic that's always relevant when discussing the weather. To ask about it, use this phrase:
今天多少度？
Jīntiān duōshǎo dù?
What's the temperature like today?
If it's around 20 degrees, you can simply respond: 今天20度左右。 (Jīntiān 20 dù zuǒyòu.) "It's around 20 degrees today."
Celsius or Fahrenheit?
In China, people almost always refer to temperature in degrees Celsius (摄氏度, Shèshìdù) rather than degrees Fahrenheit (华氏度, Huáshìdù). So when someone answers your question about temperature, they're almost certainly speaking in Celsius.
Make sure you know how to convert to Fahrenheit so you don't end up over- or under-dressed.
Because 0 degrees Celsius equals 32 degrees Fahrenheit, anyone living in northern China will frequently need to talk about temperatures below zero. For that, simply add the phrase 零下 (língxià), which translates directly as "below zero."
For example, if it's -10°C (14°F), you'd say it's 零下10度 (língxià 10 dù; "10 degrees below zero").
02 Talking About Everyday Weather in Chinese
If you want to go into more detail about what the weather is actually like outside, the vocabulary below will help.
Fun in the sun
Who doesn't love summer? It's most people's favorite season, largely thanks to warm, sunny weather.
If you're struggling to describe the amazing weather from your last tropical beach vacation to a Chinese-speaking friend, the vocabulary below should help.
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 晴天 | Sunny day | |
| 晴朗 | Clear and bright | |
| 炎热 | Scorching hot | |
| 闷热 | Hot and stuffy | |
| 防晒霜 | Sunscreen | |
| 紫外线 | UV rays |
Keep in mind that, unlike in the West, purposefully getting a tan isn't a common goal in China. In fact, pale, untanned skin is generally seen as ideal, especially for women.
Sunscreen (防晒霜, fángshàishuāng) is becoming more popular in China, but it's still very common to see people carrying umbrellas to block the summer sun.
If you live in southern China, you've probably also experienced a less fun part of summer: humidity. Use the word 潮湿 (cháoshī; moist, damp) to describe it.
今天很潮湿。
Jīntiān hěn cháoshī.
It's really humid today.
If you live somewhere drier, like a desert, use the word 干燥 (gānzào; dry, arid) instead.
北方的空气很干燥。
Běifāng de kōngqì hěn gānzào.
The air is quite dry in the north.
If summer in China has you curious about how the seasons connect to tradition, the Chinese Summer Solstice Festival marks the seasonal turning point in the traditional calendar.
Rain, rain, go away
Of course, it can't be sunny all the time. The vocabulary below is useful for talking about rainy weather.
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 毛毛雨 | Drizzle | |
| 雷阵雨 | Thunderstorm | |
| 暴雨 | Torrential rain | |
| 打雷 | To thunder | |
| 闪电 | Lightning | |
| 彩虹 | Rainbow |
Winter wonderland
In southern China, many people have never seen snow. But if you live in a northern Chinese city like Harbin, home of China's famous ice festival, snow is likely a weekly — if not daily — occurrence for much of the year.
Even without snow, there's usually plenty of cold and icy weather to discuss. The table below covers key vocabulary for describing winter weather.
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 雪花 | Snowflake | |
| 暴风雪 | Blizzard | |
| 结冰 | To freeze; ice forms | |
| 霜 | Frost | |
| 寒潮 | Cold wave; cold front |
Winter weather in China is closely tied to the calendar, too — the Winter Solstice Festival marks one of the coldest points of the year in Chinese tradition.
03 Talking About Extreme Weather and Air Quality
Extreme weather events are far less common than everyday weather, but they're still important to know how to discuss.
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 台风 | Typhoon | |
| 飓风 | Hurricane | |
| 龙卷风 | Tornado | |
| 沙暴 | Sandstorm | |
| 洪水 | Flood | |
| 干旱 | Drought |
Hurricanes (飓风, jùfēng) and typhoons (台风, táifēng) are actually the same weather phenomenon, more broadly known as a "tropical cyclone."
When these storms form in the Western Pacific or North Indian Oceans, they're called "typhoons." Since China sits in the Western Pacific, Chinese speakers refer to their tropical cyclones as typhoons, and they're frequent in southern China.
A note on Chinese sandstorms
If you don't live near a desert, you might not think of sandstorms as a weather event, and you may not associate them with China at all. They are, however, considered a genuine meteorological event, and they're relatively common in China, including in Beijing.
The word 沙暴 (shābào; sandstorm) should be on every weather-watcher's Chinese vocabulary list.
Talking about air quality in Chinese
Air quality (空气质量, kōngqì zhíliàng) isn't technically a type of weather, but it can definitely affect how much you enjoy the great outdoors.
Concern about air pollution in China has grown over the years, and many people now check air quality before leaving the house.
Instead of just saying "smog," or 雾霾 (wùmái), it's common to refer to the fine particles that make it up. The most dangerous of these are called PM 2.5, where PM stands for particulate matter.
In China, this English abbreviation is used as-is, but read aloud as PM 二点五 (PM èr diǎn wǔ).
PM 2.5 readings correspond to the Air Quality Index (AQI), a scale used to measure particulate matter in the air. The higher the number, the worse the pollution.
Many residents and travelers check a real-time AQI app before heading outside, especially in northern cities during winter. Anything above 150 is generally considered unhealthy, and it's worth keeping a mask on hand just in case.
Here's an example of how to talk about air quality on a heavily polluted day:
今天空气质量很差，PM 2.5已经超过500了。
Jīntiān kōngqì zhíliàng hěn chà, PM 2.5 yǐjīng chāoguò 500 le.
The air quality is really poor today. The PM 2.5 (or AQI) has already passed 500.
04 Grammar for Talking About the Weather in Chinese
For the most part, talking about the weather in Chinese just means applying the Chinese grammar rules you already know. One thing worth keeping in mind, though, is that many weather words can act as different parts of speech depending on context.
Let's look at the common words 雨 (yǔ; rain) and 雪 (xuě; snow) to see how this works.
Using rain and snow as verbs
In English, "rain" and "snow" can be nouns or verbs. "The rain is falling" uses "rain" as a noun, while "It's raining" uses it as a verb.
Since verbs can't be conjugated in Chinese, we need a different strategy. The noun form of "rain" is 雨 (yǔ); to use it as a verb, place 下 (xià) in front of it to show that rain is falling.
This gives us 下雨 (xiàyǔ; "to rain"). The same pattern applies to snow: 雪 (xuě) becomes 下雪 (xiàxuě; "to snow").
Here are a couple of examples:
今天会下雨。
Jīntiān huì xià yǔ.
It's going to rain today.
昨天下雪了。
Zuótiān xià xuě le.
It snowed yesterday.
Using rain and snow as nouns
If we want to use these words as nouns, it isn't enough to use them alone. In Chinese, nouns generally need to be paired with measure words.
The most common measure word for rain or snow is 场 (chǎng; period of time, spell). Here's how it works in practice:
这是今年的第一场雪。
Zhè shì jīnnián de dì-yī chǎng xuě.
This is the first snowfall of the year.
This measure word can also appear in sentences that use the verb 下 (xià). For example:
昨天下了一场雨。
Zuótiān xiàle yī chǎng yǔ.
It rained for a while yesterday.
You might wonder why you couldn't just say 昨天下雨了 (Zuótiān xià yǔ le; "It rained yesterday") instead. The difference is that 一场 (yī chǎng) refers to a set period of time.
So 昨天下了一场雨 specifies that the rain started and stopped at some point during the day, rather than continuing nonstop. Without the measure word, the sentence is less precise — the rain could have lasted a few minutes or gone on all day.
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05 Essential Chinese Weather Vocabulary
The table below pulls together the most essential terms from this guide, along with a few extra everyday words worth knowing.
| Chinese | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 天气 | Weather | |
| 天气预报 | Weather forecast | |
| 温度 | Temperature | |
| 摄氏度 | Degrees Celsius | |
| 多云 | Cloudy | |
| 阴天 | Overcast day | |
| 刮风 | Windy; to blow (wind) | |
| 下雨 | To rain | |
| 下雪 | To snow | |
| 潮湿 | Humid | |
| 干燥 | Dry | |
| 台风 | Typhoon | |
| 沙暴 | Sandstorm | |
| 雾霾 | Smog | |
| 空气质量 | Air quality |
06 FAQ
How do you ask about the weather in Chinese?
The most common way is 今天天气怎么样？ (Jīntiān tiānqì zěnme yàng?), which means "How's the weather today?" You can also ask about temperature directly with 今天多少度？
Does China use Celsius or Fahrenheit?
China uses Celsius (摄氏度). If you're more familiar with Fahrenheit, it's worth memorizing a few common conversion points, such as 0°C being equal to 32°F.
Why do 下雨 and 下雪 both use 下?
Because Chinese verbs aren't conjugated, the character 下 (xià) is added in front of the nouns 雨 and 雪 to turn them into the verbs "to rain" and "to snow."
What's the difference between 潮湿 and 干燥?
潮湿 (cháoshī) means humid or damp, and it's commonly used to describe summer weather in southern China. 干燥 (gānzào) means dry or arid, and it's more typical of northern and northwestern regions.
Is air pollution still a concern in Chinese cities?
Air quality varies a great deal by city and season, with some northern cities experiencing heavier smog in winter. Checking the local AQI before heading outside is a common habit for residents and travelers alike.
07 Final Thoughts
Talking about the weather in Chinese is a skill that will come in handy whenever you're chatting with native speakers. As with most aspects of the language, the best way to get comfortable with it is through full linguistic immersion, either in-person or online.
This kind of everyday vocabulary is also a great addition to any broader Chinese study plan, since it shows up constantly in real conversations.
If you want to practice your Chinese while enjoying stunning scenery, great weather, and low levels of air pollution, consider studying in Guilin — home to CLI and to scenic spots like the Li River.
