Based on the monthly mean temperature data at 284 China stations and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis dataset, the dominant modes of three months’ temperature in summer and their associated circulation anomalies are investigated with empirical orthogonal function (EOF), composite analysis and other statistical methods. The three dominant modes can be calculated from EOF. The first mode (EOF1) depicts a uniform mode (UM) from north to south over China. The second mode (EOF2) depicts a tripole mode (TM) between Inner Mongolia, North China, South China and the middlelower reaches of the Yangtze River. The third mode (EOF3) depicts a dipole mode between the north part and south part to the Yangtze River. The major circulation characteristics related with the three modes are different. UM is attributed to the equivalent barotropic atmosphere feature. The potential height anomaly shows the same tendency from the lower troposphere to the lower stratosphere over East Asia. TM is attributed to the East AsiaPacific (EAP) teleconnection pattern and the stratosphere height field anomaly in early spring can be used as a precursor for summer TM. The location and intensity of the West Pacific subtropical high and northeast cold vortex are very important to DM.