Worst Time to Visit China in 2025: Crowds, Costs & Chaos to Avoid

China is a huge country with diverse eco and cultural places to explore. However, you will want to avoid these dates unless you enjoy overcrowded attractions, 3x hotel prices, and transportation nightmares. Avoid the mistakes 90% of first time tourists to China make! Here’s when not to go and smarter alternatives.

China National Holiday 2025 Calendar

These are China’s National Holidays in 2025.

Short holidays are busy periods with locals planning domestic getaways, and these periods can make interesting experiences for you. But try to avoid any domestic flights during these holidays and expect to pay more for hotels:

1. Qingming Festival 清明 (or Tomb Sweeping) is the period when people sweep tombs and pay homage to their ancestors. Expect busy cemeteries and a lot of incense burning and offerings near places of worship.

2. Dragon Boat Festival 端午节 falls on the 5th day day of the 5th lunar month and is a major folk festival that combines worshipping gods and ancestors, praying for blessings and warding off evil spirits. Expect to see river races featuring “Dragon boats”, and rice dumplings everywhere.

If you are planning to travel on or near these National Holidays, make sure to buy your tickets as early as possible. Many attractions are learning from these mistakes and begin to limit the number of visitors for crowd control.

Top 3 China National Holidays to Avoid

These are the National Holidays we avoid completely. It is going to make for a poor travel experience managing the chaos, crowds and costs. We cannot imagine being stuck at a tourist spot for over 2 hours with a crowd like this:

1. Chinese New Year: 28 Jan - 4 Feb 2025 🙅

Why avoid it? People start travelling weeks before it begins. 2024 had 9 billion domestic trips taken during this period. This 40-days mass migration shut down cities (restaurants/banks close), while trains sell out months ahead.

2. Labor Day Holiday: 1 - 5 May 2025 🙅

Domestic tourists swarm major cities like Beijing and Shanghai. More than 250 million domestic trips are taken over 5-days. If you must travel during this period, choose to visit Tier 2 or Tier 3 Cities instead.

3. National Day Golden Week: 1 - 8 Oct 2025 🙅

Over 700 million domestic trips occur in 7 days. The Great Wall sees 20,000+ visitors daily (compared to 5,000 in September). Hotels in major cities like Beijing and Shanghai have 3X prices and flights sell out months ahead. Even "hidden gems" like Zhangjiajie’s glass bridge face 4-hour queues.

Specific Chinese Cities To Avoid During These Seasons

China's diverse climates can make or break a trip. On top of the National Holidays to take note of, here are some regions and cities you should avoid during the different seasons in China - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.

1. Spring Season in China (March - May)

Probably the best season to visit China. Enjoy the cool weather from the post-winter season, and blooming foliage. Great for the outdoors.

2. Summer Season in China (June - August)

Regions to Avoid:

• "Furnace Cities" (Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanjing) - Temperatures hit 40°C+ with oppressive humidity; heatwaves are common. Check this weather page in English for China’s weather forecast.

• Eastern China (Shanghai, Hangzhou) - Plum rain season (Jun) brings relentless drizzle and mold.

• Southern Coast (Guangdong, Hainan) - Typhoon season (Jul–Sep) causes extreme rainfall, floods and flight cancellations.

• Alternatives - Qinghai Lake or Inner Mongolia grasslands. Breezy and 20–25°C. Or Yunnan plateau (Dali, Lijiang).

3. Autumn Season in China (September - November)

Regions to Avoid:

• Sichuan Basin (Chengdu) - Persistent fog and damp cold set in by November.

• Alternatives - The next best season to visit China. Visit in October and November after the Typhoon season (Sep) is over.

4. Winter Season in China (December - February)

Regions to Avoid:

• Northern China (Harbin, Beijing) - Temperatures plunge to -25°C; icy winds and snowstorms. Some may find it worth braving the cold for ice sculptures during Harbin’s Ice Festival in Jan-Feb.

• Central China (Wuhan, Changsha) - Places without central heating will have indoor temps feel like 5°C due to damp cold.

• Alternatives - Hainan Island for beaches or Yunnan for spring-like weather.

TLDR - Worst Months to Visit Specific Cities in China

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