Spring in China: blossom, tea picking and the eight weeks from mid-March to mid-May in Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Beijing
The second-best season to visit, week by week: plum and cherry blossom in Shanghai's parks, peach trees on Hangzhou's causeway, Suzhou's gardens waking up, the first Longjing tea picked before Qingming, Beijing's magnolias and crab apples and its spring dust, the rainy spells, the two holidays that fill the trains, what to pack, and a spring fortnight that catches the colour in order.
If autumn is the season we recommend first, spring is a close second, and for some guests it is the one: the Jiangnan gardens were planted for it, the first tea of the year is picked in it, and Beijing’s dry winter gives way to blossom in a fortnight. It also has rain, a dust storm or two, and two holidays that fill every train. This is the honest week-by-week.
The weather, week by week
- Early to mid-March: Shanghai 8 to 15°C, damp, the plum blossom finishing and the first cherry and magnolia out; Beijing still cold and dry, nothing yet.
- Late March to early April: the best fortnight in Jiangnan. Shanghai 12 to 20°C, cherry and peach blossom at their peak, the tea hills picking; Beijing’s magnolias and then its crab apples and lilacs open in the first days of April.
- Mid to late April: warm and green everywhere, 18 to 24°C, the gardens at their most abundant, some showers; Beijing clear and mild with a risk of a dust day.
- May: early summer, 22 to 28°C, humid in Shanghai by the end, the May Day holiday in the first five days; the last good month before the June rains.
The best time guide has the full year; spring and autumn are its two peaks.
Shanghai: parks and plane trees
Shanghai’s blossom lives in its parks: the plum blossom at Century Park and in the old town’s gardens in late February and March, the cherry trees at Gucun Park (the city’s big cherry festival, crowded on weekends), Tongji University’s campus and Lu Xun Park, the magnolias (the city flower) on the Concession streets in March, and the peach blossom in the Nanhui orchards on the city’s edge in early April. The plane trees of the Concession leaf out in April, which turns the lanes green overnight; the second-visit guide has the streets. The Bund in clear spring air after a rain is at its sharpest.
Suzhou and Hangzhou: what the gardens were built for
Suzhou’s classical gardens were designed around spring: the plum and the magnolia first, then the crab apple and the wisteria over the ponds in April, the peonies at the end of the month, and the new green of the willows along the canals. The Humble Administrator’s Garden and the Lingering Garden are at their best in the second half of April; Tiger Hill’s flower fair runs through the season. The Suzhou guide has the order.
Hangzhou’s spring is the famous one in Chinese poetry: the Su Causeway’s peach and willow alternate the length of the lake in late March and early April (“one peach, one willow”), the plum blossom at Gushan ends in March, and the tea villages of Longjing pick the year’s most prized leaves, the pre-Qingming Mingqian tea, in the two weeks before 5 April. A spring Hangzhou day is the causeway early and a tea farmhouse at lunch with the pickers coming down the hill, as the Hangzhou guide and the tea guide describe. The water towns’ canals are at their greenest in April (the water towns guide).
Beijing: a short, bright spring
Beijing’s spring is brief and lovely: the magnolias at the Lama Temple and the Summer Palace in late March, the crab apples in the Forbidden City’s Imperial Garden and the Temple of Heaven’s grounds in early April, the lilacs at Fayuan Temple mid-month, the peonies at Jingshan at the end of April, and the willows greening along the Summer Palace’s lake. The Great Wall’s hillsides turn green in April and the apricot blossom on the slopes below Mutianyu is one of the great Wall views. The catch is the dust: a few days each spring a yellow haze blows in from the north-west, which is unpleasant for a day and then gone; a guide keeps an indoor day in reserve, as the winter guide suggests for air-quality days. The Beijing beyond the big three guide has the temples with the trees.
The two holidays
Qingming (4 or 5 April) is a three-day long weekend with full trains and busy sights, and May Day (1 to 5 May) is the spring’s Golden Week, when everything is full and expensive, as the festivals guide sets out. Travel between them, or arrive the day after; the three weeks from 7 April to 30 April are the sweet spot.
Rain, and what to pack
Spring in Jiangnan is showery: expect a wet day or two in each week, soft rather than heavy, and the gardens in rain are the Chinese ideal, as the rainy day guide explains. Pack layers for a 10°C swing between morning and afternoon, a light rain shell, walking shoes that shed water, and a warmer layer for Beijing in March. The packing guide has the list. Pollen is real for hay-fever sufferers in April; bring your antihistamine, as the healthcare guide advises.
A spring fortnight, in blossom order
| Days | Where | The spring thing |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | Shanghai | Magnolia on the Concession streets, the parks, the Bund washed clean |
| 4 | Hangzhou | The Su Causeway’s peach and willow, the tea pickers |
| 5 | Suzhou | Wisteria and crab apple over the ponds |
| 6 to 9 | Beijing by train | Crab apple in the Forbidden City, the Wall with the apricot blossom, lilacs |
| 10 to 11 | Xi’an, optional | Mild and dry, the city wall by bicycle |
| 12 to 14 | Huangshan or the water towns, optional | Azaleas on the mountain in late April; the canals green |
The order runs south to north with the season, so the route catches the blossom twice. This is the Shanghai to Beijing tour with the spring add-ons; tell us your dates on the contact page and we check them against the holidays and the blossom forecast.
