The effective precipitation and the frame of atmospheric circulation in the past three key periods, i.e. 30 ka BP, 18 ka BP and 6 ka BP, have been analyzed on the basis of the palaeolake status record produced by the Chinese Lake Status Data Base. The results show that the west-central part of China was characterized by high lake-levels at 30 ka BP, resulting from strengthened southwest monsoons; whereas the high lake stand, occurring in the west-central part of China at 18 ka BP, was caused by the southward shift and the strengthening of westerlies although the high-stand distribution was reduced. Meanwhile, the east-central part of China was under the control of strong winter monsoons at 18 ka BP. The high lake-levels, which occurred in the east-central part of China at 6 ka BP, are related to the enhanced East-Asian summer monsoons; while the lowering of the lake-level in the west-central part of China at 6 ka BP was due to the northward shift and corresponding shrink of the westerlies.A comparison between the lake status and the palaeoclimate models has shown that there do exist discrepancies between the geological evidence and the model simulations. The agreement between them provides a possible mechanical explanation on the geological phenomena, but the discrepancy shows that the model needs to be revised to a great extent.