Qionghai

Qionghai (simplified Chinese: 琼海; traditional Chinese: 瓊海; pinyin: Qiónghǎi) is one of the seven county-level cities of Hainan province, China. Although called a "city", Qionghai refers to a large land area in Hainan - an area which was once a county. Within this area is the main city, Qionghai City. It is located in the east of the island at the mouth of the Wanquan River, 86 kilometres (53 mi) from the provincial capital of Haikou. It has an area of 1,692 square kilometres (653 sq mi) and in 2010, it had a population of 483,217.

The seat of government is at Jiaji (simplified Chinese: 嘉积镇; traditional Chinese: 嘉積鎮; pinyin: Jiājī Zhèn), often now referred to simply as Qionghai. Bo'ao, seat of the Boao Forum for Asia, belongs to Qionghai City.

The former counties of Qiongdong (postal: Kiungtung) and Lehui (postal: Lokwei) are now part of Qiongdong City.

Climate

Qionghai has a tropical monsoon climate (Köppen Am).Monsoonal influences are strong, with a relatively lengthy wet season and a pronounced dry season (January to March). Rainfall is heaviest and most frequent from August to October, when typhoons may strike, and is otherwise still common throughout the year, averaging an annual total of 2,060 mm (81 in); there are 9.3 days with 50 mm (1.97 in) or more of rain. Humidity is consistently very high, with an average relative humidity of 85.8%. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 31% in February to 62% in July, the city receives 2,037 hours of bright sunshine annually; the city receives about only a third of possible sunshine from December thru February, while May thru July is the sunniest time of year.