Based on the NCEP/NCAR daily reanalysis data and observational rainfall data from 1961 to 2010,24 persistent heavy rain events are selected in the first rainy season in South China,and the beginning dates of annual South China summer monsoon rainfall(SCSMR) are chosen according to the basic criterion.According to the SCSMR beginning date and the average circulation pattern of South Asia High(SAH) at 150 hPa during a heavy rain event,the 24 persistent heavy rain events fall into four categories,including east SAH pattern before SCSMR,east SAH pattern after SCSMR,belt SAH pattern after SCSMR,and west SAH pattern after SCSMR.Among them,west SAH pattern after SCSMR is the most with the longest average duration.The same points of persistent heavy rain events in all SAH patterns show that:The center of both high frequency and large rainfall locates near northeast Guangdong Province;During the heavy rain,South China geopotential height increases at 150 hPa but decreases at 500 hPa;South China lies in the 150 hPa divergence zone to south side of westerly jet;The southwesterly is obvious over coastal area of South China at 850 hPa,and the low level convergence over northeast South China is the most obvious;Precipitable water vapor(PWV) over coastal area of both Guangdong and Guangxi provinces is the most.Direction of water vapor transportation integrated from surface to 300 hPa is mainly southwest over South China.The differences show that the mean rainfall is the least in the west SAH pattern after SCSMR;The easterly jet over the Indian Ocean emerges in both the belt and the west SAH patterns after SCSMR;PWV in the patterns after SCSMR is larger than that in the pattern before SCSMR over the coastal area of both Guangdong and Guangxi provinces.