The study looked at changes in evaporation rates in the Dongjiang River Basin from 1961 to 2003. Both reference evapotranspiration and pan evaporation decreased over time, with pan evaporation showing a significant decrease. The pan coefficient, however, increased significantly. Factors like temperature, sunshine time, and wind speed were found to affect evaporation rates, with sunshine time having the greatest impact, especially in summer. The decrease in sunshine time and wind speed were identified as the main reasons for the overall decrease in evaporation rates.