This summer, the rains in Beijing felt as if they would never stop. In July, they forced the cancellation of hundreds of flights. Tourist sites closed, and residents struggled to commute to work. In August, Ellery Lee, an energy and climate change consultant in the capital, was drenched walking through a downpour. Once home, he was shocked to see news that two people had drowned after getting trapped under a bridge in the city’s outskirts.