Dunhuang weather by month & the best time to visit
🇨🇳 China · regional city · cold desert climate
The best time to visit Dunhuang is April — its sunniest month (Sunshine Score 99/100), with October and May close behind. Dunhuang averages about 3,390 hours of sunshine a year. Daytime highs around 22°C / 72°F and roughly 4 mm of rain in April.
Jump to: month-by-month table · nearby alternatives · embed this data
- Sun hours / year
- 3,390
- Sunniest month
- April
- Peak score
- 99/100
- Rain / year
- 61 mm
- Midday UV at peak
- 9 (very high)
- Population
- 186k
- Elevation
- 1,123 m
When is the best time to visit Dunhuang?
For sunshine, the best time to visit Dunhuang is April, then October and May. The dullest month is January (0/100, 2 mm of rain). The full month-by-month picture is in the table below.
How sunny is Dunhuang?
Dunhuang is one of the sunniest places on Earth: about 3,390 hours of sunshine a year. 99 Sunshine Score points separate April (99) from January (0), so the month you pick matters. It ranks #5 of 254 destinations in China for annual sunshine, above the national median of 2,110 hours. Rain is a non-event in Dunhuang — about 61 mm in a typical year.
Sunshine Score by month
| Month | Score | Day high | Night low | Rain | UV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 0 | 2° / 36°F | -8° / 18°F | 2 mm | 2 |
| February | 0 | 6° / 43°F | -4° / 25°F | 1 mm | 3 |
| March | 49 | 14° / 57°F | 2° / 36°F | 2 mm | 4 |
| April | 99 | 22° / 72°F | 8° / 46°F | 4 mm | 6 |
| May | 98 | 28° / 82°F | 14° / 57°F | 9 mm | 8 |
| June | 87 | 33° / 91°F | 20° / 68°F | 14 mm | 8 |
| July | 68 | 35° / 95°F | 22° / 72°F | 12 mm | 9 |
| August | 78 | 34° / 93°F | 21° / 70°F | 7 mm | 8 |
| September | 98 | 28° / 82°F | 15° / 59°F | 5 mm | 6 |
| October | 99 | 20° / 68°F | 7° / 45°F | 1 mm | 4 |
| November | 16 | 10° / 50°F | 0° / 32°F | 2 mm | 2 |
| December | 0 | 3° / 37°F | -6° / 21°F | 2 mm | 1 |
See Dunhuang on the interactive sunshine globe →
Nearby places for sunshine
- Jiayuguan China · 302 km · best in May · 2,993 h sun/yr
- Hami China · 313 km · best in Apr · 3,311 h sun/yr
- Turpan China · 572 km · best in Apr · 2,973 h sun/yr
- Qitai China · 621 km · best in Apr · 2,927 h sun/yr
- Ürümqi China · 735 km · best in Sep · 2,825 h sun/yr
- Korla China · 746 km · best in Apr · 3,093 h sun/yr
Nearest destinations
- Delingha China · 399 km · 3,163 h sun/yr · best in Sep
- Huatugou China · 406 km · 3,381 h sun/yr · best in Aug
- Golmud China · 418 km · 3,381 h sun/yr · best in Sep
- Zhangye (Ganzhou) China · 525 km · 2,889 h sun/yr · best in May
Head-to-head
How Dunhuang compares month by month: Dunhuang vs Turpan · Dunhuang vs Hami · Dunhuang vs Jiayuguan · all comparisons
Put the Dunhuang sunshine badge on your site
A compact badge showing Dunhuang's sunshine at a glance — free to embed under CC BY 4.0. Paste this wherever you'd like it to appear:
Live preview — this is exactly what your readers see: