Based on observational data of 146 meteorological stations around the Yellow River basin from 1960 to 2000, the spatial and temporal distributions of the sunshine percentage are studied. The result shows that the sunshine percentage in the Yellow River basin has steadily decreased on average, especially in summer and winter. Compared with the 1960s, the sunshine percentage of 1990s decreased in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, and increased a little in the upper reach.