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USA has Mediterranean climates. China doesn't have such a thing.
USA wins.
But the subtropical zone of China is much more diverse than the one in the east part of US. For example, Kunming or Xichang is quite similar to California temperature-wise.
I said I thought they were about even, and have some very similar areas. I just don't see China as frightening because I live in America's Cfa myself, and it looks pretty similar other than the dry winters.
Shanghai is more similar to Virginia Beach. It's right near the coast. Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, is more similar to Richmond. Beijing, being nearer the coast, is more similar to a place like Boston, Massachusetts. The state of South Dakota is more similar to somewhere in southern Inner Mongolia or northwestern China.
I always like comparing the US and China as both countries are very large, very diverse (in terms of climate) and are located a roughly similar distance from the equator. Anyway, we will do this comparison in several steps so please bear with me.
1. In each country, pick your favorite place/area (based on climate) and compare the two head to head.
Tacoma, WA vs. Kunming, Yunnan Out of these I would have to pick Kunming, due to the Monsoonal climate and mild but variable temperatures. Tacoma has great temperatures, but I am not a fan of Mediterranean patterns, as I prefer sun when it is cool.
2. Same question as above but from the US, exclude all states bordering the Pacific Ocean. For China, only consider the mainland. Asheville, NC vs. Kunming, Yunnan While I chose Asheville for having no "bad" characteristics, Kunming easily wins out.
3. Now looking at the two countries as a whole and taking population densities into account, how would you compare them? Which is colder/warmer overall? Overall, both countries are concentrated onto their eastern halves, and neither really "shines". If I had to choose though, I'd pick the U.S., because while the China contains very good climates, it also contains ones that are quite bad (I.E. harsh or low sunshine)
But the subtropical zone of China is much more diverse than the one in the east part of US. For example, Kunming or Xichang is quite similar to California temperature-wise.
Not really. It's pretty much the same, if not colder.
China has much warmer average lows than the United States. I like cold weather so this is not ideal for me. I couldn't imagine a winter with so little frost.
China has some pleasant highland climates, like Zhaotong and Mount Heng, but it lacks the marine (Do) climates like Seattle that I rate the most highly. I prefer the continental climates of the eastern US (like Boston, MA), as they receive more winter precipitation and are generally, especially on the east coast, a bit less continental overall. However, I appreciate the crispness of autumns in much of China though, and its reduced potential for heatwaves and severe weather compared to much of the US.
Cape Hatteras seems better, but I'm worried about hurricanes. Not sure how often Zhoushan gets typhoons, though.
2. Lijiang, Yunnan vs. Cape Hatteras, NC
Cape Hatteras seems better again.
3. The USA seems better overall, but not because of the part that's west of the 100th parallel. The USA has more climates that are mild but seasonal with good precipitation and sunshine year-round like Virginia Beach, Atlanta, etc.
Choosing the warmer country is more interesting. I would go with China on this one because the largest concentration of the U.S. population live in a band from Boston to Washington, D.C. Beijing is about the same as NYC in terms of average annual temperature while South China ranges from something like Virginia Beach to something like Miami.
That being said, no major U.S. cities are as cold as Ha'erbin.
Cape Hatteras seems better, but I'm worried about hurricanes. Not sure how often Zhoushan gets typhoons, though.
2. Lijiang, Yunnan vs. Cape Hatteras, NC
Cape Hatteras seems better again.
3. The USA seems better overall, but not because of the part that's west of the 100th parallel. The USA has more climates that are mild but seasonal with good precipitation and sunshine year-round like Virginia Beach, Atlanta, etc.
Choosing the warmer country is more interesting. I would go with China on this one because the largest concentration of the U.S. population live in a band from Boston to Washington, D.C. Beijing is about the same as NYC in terms of average annual temperature while South China ranges from something like Virginia Beach to something like Miami.
That being said, no major U.S. cities are as cold as Ha'erbin.
I would lean towards the US being warmer, due to the west coast and the desert SW, but summers may be more comparable. China from Beijing southward has "Southern Summers" by American standards, while Boston, Detroit, and Minneapolis have summers comparable to Harbin, while Milwaukee, Portland, Seattle, coastal LA and SD, and especially SF have cooler summers than Harbin, and only Kunming has summers in this category (but SF is still much cooler!). Less than a tenth of China's population is in Manchuria, although parts of the NW (Urumqi) have similar winters. Then again, no Chinese city is nearly as hot as Phoenix during the summer either!
The NE isn't enough of the US population (a bit less than a quarter), even if we add the colder midwest with it and Denver, it is still less than 1/2 of the US. Many Americans live in CA, AZ, TX, and FL, so I would say the US is probably warmer.
I would lean towards the US being warmer, due to the west coast and the desert SW, but summers may be more comparable. China from Beijing southward has "Southern Summers" by American standards, while Boston, Detroit, and Minneapolis have summers comparable to Harbin, while Milwaukee, Portland, Seattle, coastal LA and SD, and especially SF have cooler summers than Harbin, and only Kunming has summers in this category (but SF is still much cooler!). Less than a tenth of China's population is in Manchuria, although parts of the NW (Urumqi) have similar winters. Then again, no Chinese city is nearly as hot as Phoenix during the summer either!
The NE isn't enough of the US population (a bit less than a quarter), even if we add the colder midwest with it and Denver, it is still less than 1/2 of the US. Many Americans live in CA, AZ, TX, and FL, so I would say the US is probably warmer.
I will count the population of the colder provinces/areas of China and the warmer provinces/areas:
Note that the warmer areas generally have average annual means of at least 16C, which is warmer than Virginia Beach. Taking this into account, I will count the population of the colder and warmer states of the USA:
Colder states: NY (20m), PA (13m), IL (13m), OH (12m), MI (10.0m), NJ (9.0m), VA (8.5m), WA (7.4m), MA (6.9m), IN (6.7m), MO (6.1m), MD (6.1m), WI (5.8m), CO (5.6m), MN (5.6m), KY (4.5m), OR (4.1m), CT (3.6m), IA (3.1m), UT (3.1m), KS (2.9m), NE (1.9m), WV (1.8m), ID (1.7m), NH (1.3m), ME (1.3m), RI (1.1m), MT (1.1m), DE (962k), SD (870k), ND (755k), AK (740k), VT (624k), WY (579k)
Total: 171.73m
Warmer states: CA (40m), TX (28m), FL (21m), GA (10m), NC (10m), AZ (7.0m), TN (6.7m), SC (5.0m), AL (4.9m), LA (4.7m), OK (3.9m), AR (3.0m), NV (3.0m), MS (3.0m), NM (2.1m), HI (1.4m)
Territories: PR (3.3m), GU (162k), VI (104k), AS (57k), MP (52k)
Total: 157.375m
And note that even though CA is counted as a warm state, San Francisco only has an annual mean of 14.1C, which is lower than some capitals of the colder Chinese provinces, like Zhengzhou and my birthplace of Jinan.
We can now see that China is warmer overall when consider population now. A big reason for it is that Chinese climates tend to be warmer in the shoulder seasons if summer and winter temperatures are the same. Another major reason is that Chinese climates tend to have warmer summer lows.
However, the USA might be warmer if we only take winters into account.
Last edited by arcleo; 02-05-2019 at 01:47 AM..
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