Once renowned as a place suitable for escaping the summer heat, Northeast China has transformed this summer into a disaster area of high temperatures and humidity. According to a report by a Hong Kong media outlet quoting experts, the shift of northern weather towards hot and humid conditions is not a random fluctuation, but rather a long-term trend influenced by factors such as global warming. The region’s natural advantage as a summer resort may gradually fade away.
On Sunday, Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily published a special article noting that the rare humidity and heat in Northeast China this summer has triggered heated discussion online. Netizens marveled, saying, "Never expected Shenyang’s ‘sanfu’ days could be hotter than Haikou for a whole week at 35℃," "Harbin feels like a giant electric cooker—hot, stuffy, and humid," and "Located in Changchun, I finally understand the pain of southerners." Some even joked, "Really want to go to Guangdong to escape the heat!"
The article states that recent weather in China is showing a “magical North-South reversal.” From July 30 to August 4, South China’s Guangdong and Guangxi regions were covered by the monsoon rain belt, welcoming a rare cool spell. Guangzhou’s maximum temperature did not exceed 30℃, with the minimum dropping below 25℃; even Haikou, normally perpetually hot, was just a bit above 30℃, cooler than Shenyang.
Regarding the abnormal heatwave in the Northeast, meteorological experts say that the eastward movement of the continental high pressure, coupled with the northward shift of the Western Pacific subtropical high, has caused a large amount of warm and humid air to flow in, capping Northeast China with a “heat dome.”
It is notable that, whereas in previous years, temperatures in Northeast China cooled as soon as night fell, this year has seen frequent occurrences of “tropical nights,” with nighttime temperatures repeatedly surpassing 25℃. Starting in late July, Shenyang saw maximum temperatures soaring above 35℃ for multiple days, with average humidity reaching 80%, and nighttime lows climbing to 28℃, breaking meteorological records spanning more than 70 years.
This rare humidity and heat have also simultaneously changed summer living habits of people in Northeast China. In the past, older generations who were used to natural cooling and disliked air conditioning have all started turning on air conditioners to cool down. At the same time, air conditioner sales have soared in many places, and public venues without air conditioning have come under fierce criticism.
The article quoted meteorological experts as saying that the shift of northern Chinese weather towards hot and humid conditions is not a random fluctuation, but a long-term climatic trend. Global warming, circulation anomalies, and superimposed urban heat island effect are rewriting the traditional “northern drought and southern flood” pattern. The risk of compound high temperature and high humidity disasters in the north is concurrently rising, and heat and flood prevention may now need to follow southern standards. This also means that the Northeast’s natural advantage as a summer resort may fade away, and local people may have to start learning from southerners who “drink herbal tea to ward off heat and humidity.”