The transitional period between summer and winter — known as autumn — seems to be getting shorter, and this is not an illusion.

夏季与冬季之间的过渡期——也就是秋季——似乎变得越来越短，这并非错觉。

Although autumn is generally short across most parts of China, the southwestern region enjoys a relatively longer autumn period, typically lasting between 70 to 80 days.Excluding Kunming, which often has consecutive spring and autumn seasons and isn’t included in this comparison, cities like Guiyang, Chengdu, and Chongqing lead in duration, with Guiyang having the longest autumn period at 79 days.

虽然中国大部分地区的秋季普遍较短，但西南地区享有相对较长的秋季，通常持续70至80天。不包括昆明在内（因其常年春秋相连，不在此次比较范围内），贵阳、成都和重庆等城市的秋季持续时间较长，其中贵阳秋季最长，达79天。

In contrast, the shortest autumns are found in Northeast and North China, mostly hovering around 50 days.In Beijing, residents even joke that they “take off summer clothes and directly put on winter wear”.

相比之下，东北和华北地区的秋季最短，大多只有50天左右。在北京，居民甚至戏称”脱了夏装直接穿冬衣”。

An analysis of meteorological big data reveals that since 1991, the onset of autumn has been delayed in many parts of China, with this trend being more pronounced in eastern regions compared to western ones.Comparing the average start dates of autumn per decade from 1991-2020, cities like Zhengzhou, Ningbo, and Shenzhen show the most significant delays, exceeding 10 days.The autumns in Nanjing, Hefei, Hangzhou, Nanchang, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Qingdao, Lanzhou, Yinchuan, and Urumqi have also been pushed back by 5 to 9 days compared to before.

气象大数据分析显示，自1991年以来，中国多地秋季到来时间有所延迟，这一趋势在东部地区比西部更为明显。对比1991-2020年每十年的秋季平均开始日期，郑州、宁波和深圳的延迟最为显著，超过10天。南京、合肥、杭州、南昌、厦门、福州、青岛、兰州、银川和乌鲁木齐的秋季也比以往推迟了5至9天。

This delay in the onset of autumn is closely related to the warming of the local climate.Wang Weiyue, a meteorologist at Weather China, explained that against the backdrop of global climate change, rising temperatures across various regions have become an indisputable fact, impacting agricultural production, the socio-economy, and people’s daily lives.

秋季开始时间的延迟与当地气候变暖密切相关。中国天气网气象学家王维岳解释说，在全球气候变化的大背景下，各地区气温上升已成为不争的事实，这影响着农业生产、社会经济和民众日常生活。

Not only is autumn arriving later, but its duration is also gradually shortening.Research by numerous scientists looking at seasonal changes in China has found that both the start of autumn and winter are being delayed, while the lengths of winter, spring, and autumn are all decreasing.Regionally, these changes are more noticeable in northern areas compared to the south, and in eastern regions compared to the west.

秋季不仅来得更晚，其持续时间也在逐渐缩短。众多科学家对中国季节变化的研究发现，秋季和冬季的开始都在推迟，而冬季、春季和秋季的长度都在缩短。从地区来看，这些变化在北方比南方更明显，在东部比西部更为显著。

Since 1991, the observed changes in autumn patterns across many parts of China align relatively well with these research findings.Among major cities, places like Changsha, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Zhengzhou, and Yinchuan have seen a noticeable “shrinkage” of an autumn season.Ningbo shows a more significant reduction, with its autumn shortening by 12 days from the 1990s to the present.Yinchuan, Hangzhou, and Changsha have also seen reductions of 7 to 9 days.

自1991年以来，中国多地观测到的秋季变化模式与这些研究结果相当吻合。在主要城市中，长沙、宁波、杭州、上海、郑州和银川等地的秋季”缩水”现象尤为明显。宁波的变化最为显著，其秋季从20世纪90年代至今已缩短了12天。银川、杭州和长沙的秋季也分别减少了7至9天。

重点词/短语

长难句分析

The transitional period¹ between summer and winter² — known as autumn³ — seems ⁴to be getting shorter⁵, and this is not an illusion⁶.

Although autumn is generally short across most parts of China⁷, the southwestern region enjoys a relatively longer autumn period⁸, typically lasting between 70 to 80 days⁹.

Excluding Kunming¹⁰, which often has consecutive spring and autumn seasons and isn’t included in this comparison¹¹, cities like Guiyang, Chengdu, and Chongqing lead in duration¹², with Guiyang having the longest autumn period at 79 days¹³.

In contrast¹⁴, the shortest autumns are found¹⁵ in Northeast and North China¹⁶, mostly hovering¹⁷ around 50 days¹⁸.

In Beijing¹⁹, residents even joke²⁰ that they “take off summer clothes and directly put on winter wear”.²¹

An analysis of meteorological big data reveals that since 1991, the onset of autumn has been delayed in many parts of China, with this trend being more pronounced in eastern regions compared to western ones.

1. 主干：The transitional period 是句子主语，表示句子讨论对象，即季节的过渡期。 ↩︎
2. 介词短语：between summer and winter 修饰 the transitional period，说明这一过渡期发生在夏季和冬季之间。 ↩︎
3. 非谓语动词：known as autumn 用于解释 the transitional period 的名称，即被称为秋天。这个短语使用过去分词形式 known 提供额外信息，在句中起同位语的作用。 ↩︎
4. 主干：seems 是谓语动词，表达对主语 the transitional period 的一种看法或状态。 ↩︎
5. 介词短语 ：to be getting shorter 是一个不定式短语，作为 seems 的补语，详细说明这一过渡期的状态变化，即似乎在变短。 ↩︎
6. 主干：and this is not an illusion 是句子的第二个独立结构，通过连词 and 进行连接，与第二个主句在逻辑上形成并列关系。this 指前文所述的变化，前调真实性。 ↩︎
7. 状语从句：Although autumn is generally short across most parts of China 由从属连词 although 引导 ，表让步关系。 ↩︎
8. 主干：the southwestern region enjoys a relatively longer autumn period 是句子主干，描述主要事实，主语 the southwestern region ，谓语是 enjoys ，宾语是 a relatively longer autumn period 。 ↩︎
9. 非谓语动词：typically lasting between 70 to 80 days 是一个现在分词短语，用于进一步描述主句中 autumn period 的持续时间，起补充说明作用。 ↩︎
10. 非谓语动词：Excluding Kunming 作为句子开头的非谓语动词短语，为整个句子提供背景信息，指出下面的讨论不包括昆明。 ↩︎
11. 定语从句：which often has consecutive spring and autumn seasons and isn’t included in this comparison 修饰前面的名词 Kunming 。使用了关系代词 which 来引导从句。 ↩︎
12. 主干：cities like Guiyang, Chengdu, and Chongqing lead in duration 是主要信息部分，指出在秋季持续时间方面，这些城市处于领先地位。 Cities like 提供了一个类比说明，列举典型城市。 ↩︎
13. 介词短语：with Guiyang having the longest autumn period at 79 days 作为补充信息，解释了具体数据。With 引导的介词短语解释前面城市领导地位的一个具体例子。 ↩︎
14. 介词短语：In contrast，用于连接上下文，引导出整句的比较整体。 ↩︎
15. 主干：the shortest autumns are found 是句子核心结构，采用被动语态。 ↩︎
16. 介词短语：in Northeast and North China，修饰主干，指出the shortest autumns 的地理位置。 ↩︎
17. 非谓语动词：mostly hovering 使用动名词表示状态的持续性。 ↩︎
18. 介词短语：around 50 days. 用于修饰 hovering ↩︎
19. 介词短语：In Beijing ，句首状语。 ↩︎
20. 主干：residents even joke 句子核心部分，residents 为主语。 ↩︎
21. 宾语从句：that they “take off summer clothes and directly put on winter wear”. 由连词that引导，作joke的宾语。 ↩︎