Best time to travel to China & Tibet?
 

I'm looking into a trip to China (Bejing, Yangtze River area, maybe Hong Kong) and Tibet (Lhasa). What's the best time of year to go to China - for weather, crowds, etc.? I'll probably spend about 3 weeks. Is August too hot, September too rainy? When does it get too cold? What do you recommend?
Thanks!

China is a vast country and I very much doubt that there's one ideal time to visit all of those regions, but you could start by visiting www.weatherbase.com - that will give you basic temperature and precipitation data. We visited in autumn (Sept/Oct) and mostly had excellent weather, but that was just in the north-east (Beijing and Liaoning Province) and east (Shanghai and surrounds) - we didn't go south or anywhere near Tibet.


Crowds are part of the deal in China, of course, but I'd be trying to avoid the major week-long national holiday periods - New Year, May Day and National Day (early October) when half of China seems to be on the move.

Thanks! The more I look into it, the more it looks like August wouldn't be the best choice. Sept/Oct does look better, but I'm still looking into it.

It is said from March to October is the best time to travel to Tibet.

In July the train will begin to operate. If you would like to find a take the train journey from Beijing to Tibet. maybe the message will help:

http://www.pintrip.com/english/tibet/EventOverview.php

I was in Tibet toward the end of July and it was the end of the rainy season. Even though it was not raining while we were there, there was a lot of water standing around outside of Lhasa. I think it would be better to go to Tibet in August/September.

I'm concerned about crowds which seem to be part of the China deal, but beyond the weather - does anyone have any comment about the level of the Yangtze River. Many of you probably know that in Europe, river cruises become "bus tours" when the rivers get very low. Has anyone experienced a problem with traversing the river at any particular time of the year.
2 couples are planning to do independent travel in 2007 and hope that September will allow us to travel as planned on the river.

ALSO - looking for info on some interesting - less touristy places to visit in China. In advance, thanks

With the partial completion of the massive Three Gorges Dam, the part of Yangtze River where one cruises is basically a large reservoir. It's navigable year round. No concern with water level.