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High-resolution paleomonsoon proxy records from peat and eolian sand-paleosol sequences at the desert-loess transition zone in China denote a rapid oscillation from cold-dry conditions (11,200-10,600 C-14 yr B.P.) to cool-humid conditions (10,600-10,200 C-14 yr B.P.), followed by a return to cold-dry climate (10,200-10,000 C-14 yr B.P.). Variations in precipitation proxies suggest that significant climatic variability occurred in monsoonal eastern Asia during the Younger Dryas interval. Late-glacial climate in the Chinese desert-loess belt that lies downwind from Europe was strongly influenced by cold air from high latitudes and from the North Atlantic via the westerlies. The inferred precipitation variations were likely caused by variations in the strength of the Siberian high, which influenced the pressure gradient between land and ocean and therefore influenced the position of the East Asian monsoon front. (C) 1996 University of Washington.