The variability of the summer rainfall over China is analyzed using the EOF procedure with a new parameter （namely, mode station variance percentage） based on 1951-2000 summer rainfall data from 160 stations in China. Compared with mode variance friction, the mode station variance percentage not only reveals more localized characteristics of the variability of the summer rainfall, but also helps to distinguish the regions with a high degree of dominant EOF modes representing the analyzed observational variable. The atmospheric circulation diagnostic studies with the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis daily data from 1966 to 2000 show that in summer, abundant （scarce） rainfall in the belt-area from the upper-middle reaches of the Yangtze River northeastward to the Huaihe River basin is linked to strong （weak） heat sources over the eastern Tibetan Plateau, while the abundant （scarce） rainfall in the area to the south of the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River is closely linked to the weak （strong） heat sources over the tropical western Pacific.
The relationships between the summer rainfall in China and the atmospheric heat sources over the eastern Tibetan Plateau and the western Pacific warm pool were analyzed comparatively, using the NCEP/NCAR reanalysis daily data. The strong (weak) heat source in summer over the eastern Tibetan Plateau will lead to abundant (scarce) summer rainfall in the Yangtze River basin, and scarce/abundant summer rainfall in the eastern part of Southern China. While the strong (weak) heat source in summer over the western Pacific warm pool will lead to another pattern of abundant (scarce) summer rainfall in the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River and scarce (abundant) summer rainfall in Southern China and in the region of northern Jiangsu to southern Shandong. Comparatively, the heat source over the eastern Tibetan Plateau affects a larger area of summer rainfall than the heat source over the western Pacific. In both cases of the heat source anomalies over the eastern Tibetan Plateau and over the western Pacific, there exist EAP-like teleconnection patterns in East Asia. The summer rainfall in China is influenced directly by the abnormal vertical motion, which is related closely to the abnormal heat sources in the atmosphere. The ridge line of the western Pacific High locates far south (north) in summer in the case of strong (weak) heat sources over the two areas mentioned above.
