Best Time to Visit Bijie

Spring: the sweet spot

March and April are the best months to come. Days are mild, around 20°C in March, and nights are cool enough for a jacket. March has the lowest rain of the good months, though it's still often grey. Sunshine is never generous in Bijie, so don't expect big blue skies in any month.

Spring is also when the Baili Dushuan rhododendron forest (Dafang county, about an hour's drive away) is at its best. The azaleas usually flower from late March into April, and it's the one natural show that really pulls visitors here. Weekends get busy. Go midweek if you hate crowds.

Summer: green but wet

May to September is the rainy stretch. June and July are the wettest, with rain on most days, and July is the warmest at 28°C. Because Bijie sits high up, it's cooler than the lowland cities of Chongqing or Changsha. That's the big plus. Locals and visitors from the Yangtze valley come to escape the heat.

If you're travelling with kids, summer school holidays (July and August) mean the most domestic tourists. That's when cave visits, like Zhijin Cave, feel cooler and drier than anything outside. Zhijin is a huge limestone cave system, and it stays comfortable whatever the sky does. Roads in the hills can be slow after heavy rain, so leave extra time.

August is a bit better than June or July. It has the most sun of any month, still only around four hours a day.

Autumn and winter: quiet seasons

October is damp, misty and often cloudy, with rain on most days but lighter showers. November is the surprise: dry, cool and rated Excellent. Hills turn gold and the crowds are small. It's a good pick for a slow trip with walks around Caohai Lake, a high-altitude wetland near Weining where migrating birds, including black-necked cranes, spend the winter.

December and January are cold, with nights dipping to about freezing. Damp air makes it feel colder than the numbers suggest, and many homes have little heating. Mountain roads can get icy. The upside is empty sights and cheap, easy rooms.

Chinese New Year, usually in late January or February, is the one busy winter window. Many shops close, but local families gather and food stalls serve hot pots and sour-soup dishes. February itself is a calm, fairly mild option if you want quiet.