Songyuan has an extreme continental climate — one of the coldest in Jilin Province. January averages around minus seventeen degrees Celsius; July is warm and sometimes humid. The winter fishing festival at Chagan Lake runs from December through January and is the single most compelling reason to visit in any particular season. Brave the cold and you will see something genuinely extraordinary.
Summer — June through August — is the most comfortable time for general exploration. Spring and autumn are brief and the weather can be unpredictable, but the grasslands and wetlands around the city are at their most interesting during migration season in April-May and September-October.