Best Time to Visit Cixi

Spring: green, damp and mild

March to May is soft and often grey. Rain falls on about 13 days in each month, so expect drizzle more than downpours. April is the sweet spot, with highs around 21°C and cool nights. It's good for walking around Cixi's countryside and for a day out to Hangzhou Bay.

May gets warmer and stickier. It's fine for sightseeing, but pack a small umbrella for the afternoon showers. Tomb Sweeping Day (Qingming) falls in early April, when many Chinese families travel to visit graves. Roads and trains can get busy around it.

Summer and early autumn: hot and wet

June is the wettest month here, with 242 mm of rain on 18 days. It's also the greyest, with under three hours of sun a day. This is the plum rain season (meiyu), a long damp spell across the Yangtze Delta. Everything feels clammy.

July and August tie for the hottest at 32°C highs and 25°C lows, so nights give little relief. August is at least sunnier. September stays warm and wet, and it's still rated Poor. Typhoons can also reach this coast in late summer, so keep your plans flexible. Chinese school holidays run through July and August, so family trips peak then. If you're coming for Hangzhou Bay Bridge views or Hangzhou's West Lake, expect crowds at those sights.

October to December: the best stretch

October is our top pick. Highs are about 24°C, nights are cool, and it rains on only nine days. It's ideal for a city break that mixes Cixi with nearby Ningbo and its old Tianyi Pavilion library. Early October is China's National Day holiday, the first week, so book trains and rooms well in advance for those days. Go in the second half of the month for calmer streets.

November is still pleasant, with highs near 18°C. Cixi is famous for its bayberries (yangmei), but they ripen in early summer, so you'll catch them only if you visit in June. Cixi is also known for Yue ware, an old green-glazed pottery, and the museums are a good rainy-day plan any time.

Winter: cold, quiet and cheap

December is the driest month, at 54 mm over 8 days, but it's chilly. January and February are the coldest, with lows near 1°C to 3°C, and homes here often lack proper heating. Days are grey, so it's a time for hot noodles and museum visits, not beaches.

Chinese New Year, usually in late January or February, empties many cities as people head home. Some local restaurants close for several days. If you hate crowds, winter is your best bet, as long as you don't mind the cold.