The energy crisis and global climate change in the 20th century caused the academic community to re-examine the relationship between architecture and the natural environment. The climate response of regional traditional architectures makes them became focus in architecture research again. The traditional dwellings in Hehuang area, named Zhuangkuo in this paper, are selected as the research objects. The climate data in this area is quantitatively analyzed through comparing the analysis tools and boundary conditions. It disassembles the ecological strategies from the climate and architectural factors, establishes the links between climate characteristics and specific technologies through tabular method, and analyzes its design principle by pattern diagram for exploring the internal dynamic mechanism of the development of traditional buildings. The CSWD (Chinese Standard Weather Data) climate data of Xining, the largest city in Hehuang area, is analyzed as the representative, including hourly data of typical meteorological years such as temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and speed, solar radiation, and rainfall. Using Climate Consultant as a climate analysis tool for research, it provides four thermal comfort models, analyzes the results of 13 passive strategies, and explains the boundary conditions of various strategies. Among them, the ASHRAE handbook of fundamentals comfort model up through 2005, which integrates the changes of outdoor seasons, humidity, user activities, etc., is suitable for the research on traditional dwellings, because of reflecting the complexity and adaptability of human thermal comfort relatively. The Hehuang area belongs to the semi-arid climate of the continental plateau, with an average altitude of 2 500 m. There is no hot summer but it is severey cold in winter. The annual temperature variations are little but the diurnal temperature range is large, especially in winter. Solar radiation is intense and lasts long. There is less precipitation but more evaporation. In addition, dusty wind is a critical factor in this region which is unstable and intense all year round. Through the analysis of psychrometric chart and the effective time of the strategies, it can be seen that the climate in Hehuang area is severe y cold, and thermal comfort could only be achieved in a little time (5.1%). The heating strategies should be considered throughout the year, most of the time needs to rely on active heating (76.5%), and passive solar + direct gain high mass can be used as a supplementary heating strategy (15.9%). Outdoor wind protection (1.4%) should be considered in winter and window shading (2.6%) should be considered in summer.The climate response strategies in this area are mainly cold prevention, heat preservation and wind prevention. It should strengthen the insulation and air tightness to reduce the loss of heat and strive for sunlight to maximize the heating effect of solar radiation. For dealing with severe coldness and windy climate, the traditional Zhuangkuo villages generally adopt a stepped layout with high in the north and low in the south, so as to reduce north wind erosion and increase solar radiation to the south in the layout of settlements. The form of Zhuangkuo is neat and compact with the courtyard of four sides encircling, and the figure coefficient is small. The courtyard is surrounded by tall and thick walls, with no openings except for the gate to reduce heat loss. The building is low in height, reducing unnecessary indoor heating space. The main living space is mostly located in the south direction. The stove is arranged in the center of the building to make full use of the heat. The rooms in north and west are used as the auxiliary space for storage, kitchen, etc. to form a temperature buffer zone. The whole space is organized according to the temperature gradient. In terms of building envelop, the external walls are rammed with raw soil with high thermal resistance and specific heat capacity. They absorb heat in the day and dissipate heat at night, reduce the temperature fluctuation, and effectively deal with the large diurnal temperature range. Solar resources can be fully utilized as a supplement for active heating of Zhuangkuo. The form of courtyard is shallow and open inside. All rooms face the courtyard with wooden walls and large windows. The solar radiation is fully utilized in the relatively stable courtyard environment, making the whole building like a solar heat collector. The eaves corridor around the courtyard can effectively adjust the sunlight, and prevent the discomfort caused by exposure and glare. Based on the quantitative analysis of climate data and the typological study of traditional Zhuangkuo in Hehuang area, it summarizes the ecological strategies of thick wall with thermal insulation and storage, courtyard with solar heat gain inside, eaves corridor adjusting light and heat environment and windproof high courtyard wall. Further research will be focused on the quantitative research to effectiveness of these strategies, and summarize their morphological and spatial scale of environmental performance optimization in the future. It’s expected that it will provide a scientific basis for the modern transformation of ecological strategies of traditional building in Hehuang area.