When to Go to China: Seasons, Holidays and Crowds

When you go to China matters as much for the holiday calendar as for the weather. China is big enough to span cold northern winters and tropical southern summers, and its national holidays put hundreds of millions of people on the move at once. Aim for spring or autumn, keep clear of the big holiday weeks, and if your dates are fixed, book trains, hotels and sights early.

The short answer: spring and autumn

The best time for a first trip to China is spring (April and May) or autumn (September to early November). Days are mild in Beijing, Xi’an, Shanghai and Chengdu, walking all day is comfortable, and northern skies are often clear in autumn. Two weeks to avoid fall inside those seasons: the May Day holiday at the start of May and National Day Golden Week at the start of October. Shift your trip a week either side of them and you get the good weather without the worst crowds. Summer and winter trips to China work too, with the right packing and indoor fallbacks such as museums.

Spring in China (March to May)

Spring in China warms the country from south to north and is one of the two easiest seasons to visit.

• The north (Beijing, Xi’an): March can still be cold; April and May are mild and bright. Spring is windy, dust can blow in, and in Beijing fluffy poplar and willow seeds drift through the streets for a few weeks, which bothers some allergy sufferers.
• The Yangtze region (Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou): mild and often showery, with gardens in bloom. The far south, around Guangzhou, is already warm and very humid.
• The Sichuan and Chongqing basin (Chengdu): mild and frequently overcast, as it is much of the year.
• Yunnan: the end of the dry season, with warm, sunny days in Kunming and Dali.

Summer in China (June to August)

Summer in China is hot almost everywhere and is the main rainy season, and school holidays make it a busy time for domestic travel. Start sightseeing early, rest indoors at midday and drink plenty of water; Health and safety covers heat and air quality.

• The north (Beijing, Xi’an): hot, with the heaviest rain usually in July and August, often in sudden downpours.
• The Yangtze region (Shanghai): the “plum rain” season brings weeks of damp, muggy weather from around mid-June into early July, followed by intense heat and humidity. Typhoons can reach the east and south coasts in late summer.
• The Sichuan and Chongqing basin: hot and muggy; Chongqing is one of China’s hottest cities in summer.
• Yunnan: the rainy season, but the altitude keeps Kunming comfortable. Heavy rain can disrupt mountain roads.

Autumn in China (September to November)

Autumn is the classic season for a first trip to China, apart from Golden Week in early October.

• The north (Beijing, Xi’an): clear, dry, cool days, with autumn colors in the hills around Beijing from late October. November turns cold quickly.
• The Yangtze region (Shanghai, Hangzhou): September can still be hot; October and November are pleasant, and autumn is hairy crab season in Shanghai.
• The Sichuan and Chongqing basin (Chengdu): cooler, with gray skies and some rain, but comfortable for walking.
• Yunnan: the rainy season ends around October, and clear, dry weather settles in.

Winter in China (December to February)

Winter in China brings the emptiest sights and lower hotel rates, as long as you avoid Spring Festival, but the cold feels very different north and south.

• The north (Beijing, Xi’an): cold and dry, with nights below freezing. Buildings have central heating, so indoors is warm. Winter is the season most likely to bring polluted days; check the air quality before a Great Wall trip. The far northeast, around Harbin, is far colder and known for its ice festivals.
• The south (Shanghai and beyond): damp and chilly in Shanghai, mild around Guangzhou and warm on Hainan. China’s central heating has traditionally stopped at a line along the Qinling Mountains and the Huai River, so many homes and older buildings in Shanghai and farther south rely on air conditioners for heat. Pack layers for indoors too.
• The Sichuan and Chongqing basin: damp and gray, rarely freezing, with little heating in older buildings.
• Yunnan: dry and sunny by day, cold at night, and properly cold in high areas such as Lijiang and Shangri-La.

Public holidays and the crowds they bring

China’s public holidays put hundreds of millions of people on the road at once, and for a first trip they matter more than the weather. The government sets the dates each year and often swaps weekend days to make longer breaks, so some Saturdays or Sundays become working days. Upcoming dates are listed in the table at the end of this page.

• Spring Festival (Chinese New Year): late January or February, on the lunar calendar. The biggest migration of the year surrounds it; see the next section.
• Qingming Festival: early April, a short break when families visit ancestors’ graves and take spring outings.
• May Day (Labor Day): a multi-day break starting May 1, with Golden Week-style crowds and prices.
• Dragon Boat Festival: late May or June, a long weekend with dragon boat races in some cities.
• Mid-Autumn Festival: September or early October, sometimes joined to National Day into one longer break.
• Summer school holidays: roughly July and August. Not a public holiday, but two months of family travel fill the Palace Museum, the Terracotta Army, the panda base and other favorites.
• National Day Golden Week: October 1 to 7, the single busiest week for domestic tourism.

During these holidays, train tickets on popular routes sell out within minutes of release, flights and hotels in tourist areas jump in price, and timed sight tickets go fast. Big sights, malls and chain restaurants stay open, and museums that normally close on Mondays sometimes open on a holiday Monday. Government offices, including immigration offices, close or keep short hours. Expressway tolls for private cars are waived during several of the big holidays, so roads to the Great Wall and other day-trip sights can jam.

If your dates overlap a holiday:

1. Book early. Reserve hotels with free cancellation as soon as your dates are set, and buy train tickets the day they go on sale.
2. Avoid the travel days. The first and last days of a holiday are the peak; travel in the middle of the break, or stay in one city and let the crowds move around you.
3. Visit big sights on weekdays and at opening time, outside the holiday itself if you can, and save quieter neighborhoods and parks for the holiday days.

Check before you go: China’s government announces each year’s holiday dates, including the make-up working days, late in the previous year. Check the official schedule for your travel year before you book flights.

Chinese New Year as a visitor

Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in China, and visiting during it is rewarding but hard work. The official travel rush, called chunyun (春运), runs for weeks before and after the holiday as people go home and return.

What’s good about visiting China at Chinese New Year:

• Red lanterns, decorations and a festive mood everywhere, with temple fairs in Beijing and lantern displays around the Lantern Festival that ends the season.
• Big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai can feel unusually quiet in the first days of the holiday, when many residents have gone home.
• A chance to see China’s biggest celebration, and New Year meals if you are invited to a family’s table.

What’s hard about it:

• Trains and flights around the holiday are the hardest tickets of the year to get.
• Many small family-run restaurants and shops close for several days; chain restaurants and hotels are the backup.
• Famous sights and scenic areas are packed with domestic visitors during the holiday week, and hotel prices rise in tourist areas.
• It falls in winter, so the north is cold and the south damp. Fireworks are restricted in the centers of many big cities.

If you go, arrive before the rush, stay in one or two cities through the holiday week, and book every train, hotel and sight early.

Booking windows around holidays

Around Chinese public holidays, the trick is to know when each booking opens and act on that day.

• Trains: high-speed rail tickets go on sale a fixed number of days before departure on 12306, the official rail channel, and holiday trains sell out quickly. Trip.com books the same trains. See how to book train tickets and Getting around.
• Flights and hotels: on sale months ahead, with prices that climb as a holiday approaches. Book as soon as your dates are fixed.
• Sights: the big sights release real-name tickets a set number of days ahead, often up to a week, and holiday slots can go within minutes. See Booking sights and the sight bookings tool.

Check before you go: Train tickets on 12306 currently go on sale about 15 days before departure, and each station releases its tickets at a set time of day. The window can change, so confirm the current rule on 12306 and set a reminder for the day your train goes on sale.

The trip planner warns you when your dates overlap a holiday and builds booking reminders for your route, and the pre-trip checklist covers everything else. For whole-trip planning, start with Plan your first trip.

Public holiday dates

Dates marked "around" are not yet officially announced. The State Council publishes each year's holiday schedule late in the previous year; the trip planner warns you when your dates overlap one.