China in March
March is when spring moves north across China, and you can follow it. Canola fields turn the karst valleys of eastern Yunnan yellow, plum and magnolia open in the Yangtze cities, and by the second half of the month cherry trees bloom from Wuhan to Wuxi. Spring Festival is over, and the next public holiday, Qingming, isn't until April (5 April in 2027). Trains and hotels run at normal prices, and big sights are calmer than they will be again until November.
Weather is the trade-off. Northern China is still brown, windy and sometimes dusty, and the south gets wetter week by week.
March weather by city
| City | Avg high | Avg low | Rain | Wet days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beijing | 13 °C (56 °F) | 2 °C (35 °F) | 10 mm | 3 |
| Xi'an | 16 °C (60 °F) | 4 °C (39 °F) | 28 mm | 7 |
| Shanghai | 15 °C (59 °F) | 8 °C (46 °F) | 97 mm | 13 |
| Chengdu | 18 °C (64 °F) | 9 °C (48 °F) | 24 mm | 10 |
| Guangzhou | 22 °C (72 °F) | 16 °C (60 °F) | 101 mm | 14 |
| Kunming | 22 °C (71 °F) | 9 °C (48 °F) | 20 mm | 5 |
| Harbin | 3 °C (38 °F) | -8 °C (17 °F) | 12 mm | 5 |
| Lhasa | 13 °C (56 °F) | 0 °C (31 °F) | 4 mm | 2 |
- Beijing and Xi'an: Afternoons in the low to mid teens, nights near freezing. Spring winds can bring dust, so on a hazy day put the museums first and check the air-quality index before a Great Wall hike.
- Shanghai and Hangzhou: About 15 °C and the year's first long run of rain, with roughly 13 wet days. Pack a light waterproof and shoes that dry quickly.
- Guangzhou: 22 °C and rising humidity, with spells of the sticky "return-south" weather (回南天), when condensation forms on indoor walls and floors.
- Kunming: Warm, dry and clear at 22 °C, the end of Yunnan's sunniest season.
- Lhasa: Still dry, with warmer days. Check entry rules for international visitors: permits have sometimes been paused in March.
- Harbin: The thaw begins late in the month, and the ice season is over.
The March blossom calendar
| Flower | Where | Typical peak |
|---|---|---|
| Canola (rapeseed) | Luoping, eastern Yunnan | Mid-February to mid-March |
| Plum | Nanjing's Plum Blossom Hill; Hangzhou's Lingfeng and Xixi | Early February to early March |
| Magnolia | Hangzhou temples, Suzhou gardens | Late February to late March |
| Cherry | Pingba (Guizhou), Wuhan East Lake and Wuhan University, Hangzhou Taiziwan, Wuxi Yuantouzhu | Early to late March in Guizhou and Wuhan; late March to early April in Wuxi |
| Canola | Wuyuan, Jiangxi; Xinghua, Jiangsu | Mid-March to early April |
| Peach | Hangzhou Su Causeway; Nyingchi, Tibet | Mid-March to mid-April |
Timing moves by one or two weeks from year to year, depending on the winter. Local parks and Chinese social platforms post live bloom progress. Check them about five days ahead, and pick a city that is worth visiting even if you arrive before or after the peak. Some places also manage crowds: Wuhan University has required advance online reservations during cherry season in recent years. For more detail, see the China cherry blossom calendar.
Where to go in March
Wuhan: cherry trees and the Yangtze
Wuhan peaks from mid to late March. East Lake Cherry Blossom Garden has more than ten thousand trees around a pagoda and pond, and Wuhan University's old campus is famous for its avenue of cherries. Go on a weekday morning. The rest of the city is worth staying for: the Hubei Provincial Museum's bronze bells, the Yellow Crane Tower and hot dry noodles (热干面) for breakfast. See the Wuhan 3-day route.
Wuyuan: villages in yellow fields
In Wuyuan, white-walled Huizhou villages sit among terraced canola from mid-March to early April. Huangling's hillside village, where crops dry on rooftop trays, is the classic view. Base yourself in Wuyuan town and visit the eastern and northern villages on separate days, because they lie in different directions.
Kunming and Luoping: the last dry month
Early March is the end of Luoping's canola season and still the dry season in Kunming. That makes it a fine time for the Stone Forest and the Yuanyang rice terraces, which catch the light while they are still flooded. The Jianshui–Yuanyang 4-day route works especially well now.
Hangzhou, Suzhou and Wuxi: gardens in bloom
March is when the classical gardens and West Lake fill with magnolia, plum, peach and early cherry. The Su Causeway turns pink in the second half of the month. Wuxi's Yuantouzhu, a peninsula on Lake Tai, is among China's best cherry sites from late March. Follow the Shanghai–Suzhou–Hangzhou route and add Wuxi for a day.
Xiamen and Xi'an: easy city weeks
Xiamen is mild and green, before the heat and the summer crowds. Xi'an is cool and uncrowded, a good time to cycle the city wall and visit the Terracotta Army without summer lines.
In season in March
March's blossoms are covered above. These are the other seasonal things worth planning around.
| What | Where | When | How to do it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Green rice balls (青团) | Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou bakeries | March to Qingming | Mugwort-dyed sticky rice filled with red bean, or with salted egg yolk and pork floss. Old Shanghai bakeries have long queues in the weeks before Qingming |
| Spring bamboo-shoot soup (腌笃鲜) | Shanghai and Hangzhou restaurants | March and April | Fresh shoots simmered with salted and fresh pork. Order it where the menu marks it as seasonal |
| The first Longjing tea | Longjing, Meijiawu and Wengjiawu villages, Hangzhou | Picking starts in late March | Pre-Qingming leaves are the most expensive of the year. Buy at the village sales points, which apply an anti-counterfeit label, not at roadside stalls |
| Canola valleys | Hanzhong in southern Shaanxi; Wuyuan | Mid-March to early April | Hanzhong is just over an hour from Xi'an by high-speed train, an easy add-on to the classic route |
The classic route in March
| Stop | March conditions | What to change |
|---|---|---|
| Beijing and the Great Wall | Windy and dry, with nights near freezing. The Two Sessions bring extra security in early March, and spring dust days are possible | On a dust day, swap the Great Wall for museums. Allow extra time for security checks around Tiananmen in the first half of the month |
| Xi'an | Cool, dry and uncrowded | A good month to cycle the city wall. Add Hanzhong for canola in the second half of March |
| Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou | Blossom season, with heavy weekend crowds | Put gardens and West Lake on weekdays, and use weekends for museums or an outlying water town |
| Chengdu pandas | Summer hours return on 1 March, with entry from 07:30. Mornings are mild | Arrive at opening. The first two hours are the most active |
| Guilin and Yangshuo | Rain returns and the river starts to rise, with low cloud some days | Keep one flexible day for the Li River on a clear morning |
| Zhangjiajie | Rain and low cloud are common | Keep a spare day and go up to the Wulingyuan plateau on the clearest one |
March dates to plan around
| Date | Event | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Early March | Two Sessions (National People's Congress and CPPCC) in Beijing, usually opening around 5 March | Tighter security around Tiananmen and higher hotel rates near central Beijing for about a week |
| 8 March | International Women's Day | A half-day off for many women workers; some attractions offer women free entry |
| About 20 March | Spring equinox | Bloom season builds; weekend crowds at popular blossom parks |
| Not in March | Qingming holiday | Qingming falls on 5 April in 2027; avoid long road transfers around it |
March has no mainland public holiday, so it is one of the most dependable months for intercity rail and hotels. Even so, weekend trains to blossom cities can sell out.
Seasonal hours, closures and prices
- Huangshan: Peak admission of ¥190 returns on 1 March.
- Jiuzhaigou: The low season (¥80 admission) ends on 31 March, and peak pricing and the 41,000-visitor daily cap apply from 1 April.
- Changbai Mountain: The south slope is still closed; the north and west slopes run winter hours of 08:30–15:00 through April.
- Tibet: March has historically been the month with the most permit pauses. Tibet stayed open in March 2026, but confirm with your agency before booking flights.
Booking and practical advice
- Visit blossom parks on weekdays. On spring weekends, popular parks in Wuhan, Hangzhou and Wuxi have long queues and full metro trains.
- Pack layers. You may meet 25 °C in Kunming, damp 8 °C evenings in Shanghai and wind near freezing in Beijing on the same trip.
- Allow for spring rain in the south. In Guilin and Zhangjiajie, rain in March can turn into low cloud, with no views from peak viewpoints for days. Keep a flexible day there.
- Check Tibet early. If Lhasa is on your list, confirm your permit timing with your agency before booking flights.
- Book trains on release day. Tickets open 15 days ahead and March prices are normal. Book trains on Trip.com.
Two March routes
Ten days of blossoms: Shanghai 2 nights → Wuxi 1 → Suzhou 2 → Hangzhou 3 → Wuhan 2, timed for the second half of March when the cherries reach their peak.
Eight days, Yunnan before the rains: Kunming 2 nights → Jianshui 2 → Yuanyang 2 → back to Kunming for 2, or add Dali. The terraces are flooded, the air is dry and the high-speed and road links are well tested.