climate

The best time to visit Dunhuang and the ancient Silk Road is from May through October. In the depths of Inland China, Dunhuang has a very dry climate. It has three special characteristics. The first is lots of direct sunshine. The second is little rainfall. The annual average rainfall here is only 39.9 mm. The rainfall in summer is 63.9 percent of annual rainfall while winter rainfall is only 7.5 percent. Therefore, evaporation can be a problem in this climate. The third is the climate's four distinct seasons. Winter and summer have huge temperature differences (annual temperature difference reaches 34 degrees). Lastly, sand storms can be a problem in the Dunhuang, with the wind sometimes reaching speeds of 3m/sec.