China in April: Weather, Top Places to Visit & Travel Tips

- Historic World Wonder clothed in Pink

April is the best time to visit the great walls in the suburban area of Beijing. The temperature is comfortable and the rain doesn’t occur very often, and what’s special about the great walls in April - the mountains around the great walls are dotted in pink and purple, which forms a romantic spring scene. Mutianyu is the top-recommended section on TripAdvisor for all seasons. Traveling in spring, you can take the S2 train to the most famous Badaling Great Wall. Beside the blossoms you can see at the Badaling section, the S2 train is nicknamed, “a train bound for spring” for the beautiful peach and pear blossom along the railway to the great wall. Not far away from the Badaling Great Wall, the Juyongguan Great Wall is also well renowned for the blooming spring scenery. Other less touristy great wall sections like Simatai, Jiankou, Jinshanling, Gubeikou, the lakeside Huanghuacheng are also very good alternatives.

- Idyllic Fairyland of Rustic Fields and Picturesque Karst Landscape

Known for its breathtaking karst landscape and idyllic scenery, Guilin comes back to life with blooming flowers and budding leaves, and it is the best time to appreciate the peach blossoms and rapeseed flowers in Guilin. Either cruising along the picturesque Li River or biking along the rustic road along Yulong River, you will be able to see the greenish mountains and yellowish fields. The temperature is between 16°C to 23°C. It is very pleasant with occasional rainfalls, so bringing some rain gears is necessary. During the night time or morning, it can still be a little cold, so you are recommended to bring some extra layers. As the rainfall nourishes the vegetation, the mountains and rivers are veiled in the mist, which has made Guilin more mysterious. Uphill to the Mt. Xianggong to capture the panoramic landscape, roaming around Ten-Mile Gallery to discover the detailed rustic beauty, taking a bamboo raft leisurely, and staying at Xingping Ancient Town for the dawn Silhouette, you have way more things to explore...

- The Real Avatar World in Reality with Thrilling Glass Bridge

Spring is the best time to visit Zhangjiajie, the “Avatar” world in reality, and April is the golden period to take a spring hike there. The temperature has increased a lot since March. Generally, it is warm, mild, and humid. Although it can be still cold in the mountain area at night, the average temperature during the daytime is about 20°C, pleasantly warm for you to do some things here. Among all these mountainous sites, the “Hallelujah Mountain” is the prototype of the most famous Avatar floating mountain. Besides, the Zhangjiajie Glass Bridge is a place where you can take the courage to step on the transparent walkway and overlook the vast grand canyon. If you are a nature lover, hiking along the golden whip stream in the lush forest and blooming wildflowers, or boating on the emerald Baofeng lake with picturesque scenery on both sides of the river can be a memorable relaxing experience. Also, do not miss the panoramic view from the longest passenger cableway of high mountains in the world - Tianmen Mountain Cableway. 

- Cruise Over the Poetic Scenery and the Greatest Dam in the World

Spanning from the western upriver cities of Fengjie, Yichang in Chongqing to the eastern downstream to Huibei province, Three Gorges, namely Qutang, Wu, and Xiling gorges stretching 311 km along Yangtze River, in the hinterland of China, and spring is the most vibrant season to visit three gorges in bloom. Taking a cruise ship leisurely sailing along Yangtze River, you can see the picturesque landscape, golden field of rapeseed flowers, peach blossoms decorated mountains, etc. As the only navigable grand gorges in China, you can take a cruise ship and leisurely sailing through them. The iconic landmark of Yangtze River, Kuimen Gate is the banknote image on China CNY 10 cash. As you sailing by the most beautiful Wu gorge, the Shennong Stream and shennv stream are the highlights of it. Then the Xiling gorge, the longest one of them is where the largest hydropower project in the world, three gorges dam is located.

- Peonies in Bloom and Long Grottoes in Awe

As one of the four great ancient capitals of China, Luoyang is located on the central plain of China, known for the stunning ancient caves - Longmen Grottoes and the iconic event - Luoyang Peony Festival. About 15km from the downtown area, the Longmen Grottoes ranks first among China’s grottoes, covering an area of 30,000 square meters, containing over 100000 Buddhist statues and it has taken over 400 years to build with the largest Buddha of over 17 meters and the smallest one of only 2cm tall. The Peonies, the city flower of Luoyang, bloom luxuriantly in Spring and come to full bloom in April. To celebrate the cultivation of peonies and have flower appreciation fairs, Luoyang people host it every year and nearly 20 million tourists have visited the festival in 2014. The recommended sites to see the peonies are Luoyang International Peony Garden, Chian National Flower Garden, Sui and Tang Dynasties Town Botanical Garden, etc. Most of the gardens are conveniently located in the downtown area. There are mainly 3 blooming periods of the peonies in Luoyang, which are around April 10, April 15, and April 20. If you happen to be Luoyang in April, you can not miss the charming peonies.

- Countless Kites Flying over the Eastern Coastline

Weifang, located in the central Shandong Peninsula has a mild and comfortable temperature in Spring. As a city close to the sea, Weifang is very windy in spring, therefore kite flying is a tradition among the local people there. In 1984, the first international kite festival was held in Weifang. More than ten thousand kite fans attended the opening ceremony including kite lovers from many other countries. Since then, the international kite festival has become the annual event of Weifang. It is usually held on the third Saturday in April and lasts about half a month, on the northern coast of Weifang city. From traditional kites to some oddly shaped novel kites, you can find all kinds of kites in Weifang. Besides buying a kite and keep this memory, you can also try to fly a kite, join the Kite Festival Opening Ceremony, learn to make a kite of your own in the folk culture village, or visit the World kite Museum there.

- Tropical Water-Splashing New Year of Ethnic Yunnan

Located in the south of Yunnan Province, bordering both Myanmar and Laos, Xishuangbanna is rich in nature, historical and cultural resources, and noted for the folklore, rain forests, wildlife, ethnic groups, and diverse food. Traveling Xishuangbanna, it is very warm, humid, and comfortable. Unlike the Han people, people in Xishuangbanna celebrate their New Year, the Water-splashing Festival in April. It lasts for three days from April 13 to 15. Besides the water festival event, it also consists of some other events such as Dragon boat races, the firing of indigenous missiles, flying Kongming Lamps. So, why People there splash water on New Year Day? For many ethnic groups there, sprinkled water on one another is seen as a sign of respect and blessings, and the pouring and splashing water is to show good wishes and good luck for the coming new year. If you happened to visit Xishuangbanna in April, this event is definitely unmissable.