When to visit China
China is four climates, not one. The useful question is not “which month” but “which region in which month” — and which two weeks a year to avoid entirely.
Spring (March–May)
Mild, green, and the best two weeks of the year — if you dodge the May holiday.
Read the season →Summer (June–August)
Hot in the east, perfect in Yunnan and the north-west. Choose the region.
Read the season →Autumn (September–November)
Clearest skies, best light, and the Golden Week trap in early October.
Read the season →Winter (December–February)
Harbin ice in the north, mild Yunnan in the south, and half-price Beijing.
Read the season →The weeks to avoid, whatever the season
- Chinese New Year — late January to mid-February, dates move yearly. The largest domestic migration on earth.
- Golden Week — 1–7 October. Every train sold, every site at capacity.
- Labour Day — 1–5 May. Short but intense.
If your dates are fixed inside one of those windows, we re-sequence the route rather than pretend the crowds are not there: cities first, headline sites after.