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The Asian hydroclimate variability during the early and middle Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 was reconstructed from a high-resolution stalagmite δ18O record from Qixing Cave in southern China, which exhibited an extraordinarily strong precessional cycle. When compared with other cave records (mostly) from East Asia, covering a latitudinal transect from 23° to 38°N, it can be found that the magnitude of precessional-scale stalagmite δ18O variations decreases when the latitude increases, approximately from 3‰ to 1‰. In contrast, the amplitude of Heinrich stadials (HSs) in these stalagmite δ18O records enhances with increasing latitudes, from 1‰ to 2‰, reflecting an alleviated effect of high-latitude climate changes on the low-latitude hydroclimate, or a relative contribution from Westerlies-borne and near-sourced 18O-enriched moisture at northern China. In southern China, orbital-scale changes in stalagmite δ18O closely match variations of the atmospheric CH 4 concentration and δ18O of the atmospheric O 2 , suggesting a coherent response of low-latitude ecological and hydrological processes. In addition, a weaker precessional cycle in northern China is possibly related to the relative supply of near-sourced moisture source, where the Westerly wind can exert a substantial role. Therefore, precessional to millennial-scale changes in East Asian stalagmite δ18O records could be further modulated by local processes, rendering them a spatially contrasting trait. A pervasive imprint of muted precessional rainfall changes in loess records from northern China suggests a regionally distinct rhythm of moisture availability, in agreement with the stalagmite records from higher latitudes. • An increase of HS amplitude but weakening of the precessional cycle with increasing latitudes. • The role of low-latitude processes on alleviating the HS amplitude in southern China. • A dividing role of the latitudinal band ∼30°N on controlling the moisture supply in East Asia. • The barrier effect of Westerly jet and different moisture sources modulate precessional hydroclimate changes in northern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]