This paper documents rural households' perceptions of and responses to hailstorms and drought, which have been increasingly common in southwest China. This is important as the current coping behaviour serves as a starting point for future adaptations. Primary data were collected from 162 households by a questionnaire survey in three villages in Lijiang, Yunnan province. The results indicate that the majority of households have perceived an increasing occurrence of hailstorm and drought till present. Hailstorms were generally perceived to have more drastic impacts than drought. The most common coping strategy for both was to seek alternative income sources via sideline activities. In addition, there were hazard-specific coping strategies. Migrant work and assets depletion were important to cope with hailstorms while multiple strategies to solve water shortage were deployed during drought. Differences were also found across villages regarding the degree of perceived sensitivity and responses despite similar exposure to climate extremes. These differences are partly related to the nature of events and varied socio-economic characteristics of households, which influence their vulnerability and ability to cope. The study suggests initiatives which could facilitate coping. In addition to providing disaster relief and strengthening technical coping capacity, more efforts could be directed at spreading risk and revitalising livelihoods.