The highest mean monthly temperature reaches 30 C from June to September. Lowland Taiwan is frost-free. The temperature fall with altitude, and in winter the central mountains are covered with snow. Mean precipitation is 102 inches, although in some years the precipitation in summer alone may exceed 200 inches. The upland area receives more rain than the west part.
Rainfall is more even in the north.
The precipitation in summer is about 80 percent of the annual total. As the climate varies with altitude, so does the natural vegetation. Birds include pheasants, geese, flycatchers, kingfishers, larks, and many other species. Fish abound in the coastal areas. Except for the Gaoshan ethnic group, the aborigines of Taiwan, the inhabitants of Taiwan are the descendants of immigrants from the Chinese mainland.