Thanks Fodorites for all the help re my query.
We were planning on arriving in Shanghai and doing a bit of travel to the immediate north and south of it. BUT, is this the wrong time of year? It is the only time my travel companian can get a decent bit of leave from work - eek. On looking up the weather it says - "because of the strong wind and dampness it is really freezing especially at night"
The last time we were in China, southern China, in Yunnan (in November) we were wandering around in our shirtsleeves

Here's a great source of climate data showing lots of information not included in most sources: weatherspark.com

Thanks kja. BUT can anyone give us personal advice on what it will be like, hopefully not too much rain, and not too cold?

I guess I'm not sure how anyone can help you. Weather is unpredictable, and what YOU would find to be too rainy or too cold might not be what anyone else would find that way. At least statistics can give you probabilities that you can compare to your own experience. Good luck!

I was in Shanghai in January and the weather was pleasant. Much warmer than Beijing.

Thanks so much for getting back to me, Ekscrunchy, was it wet?
Also, did you go to the canal towns to the north and south of Shanghai - Suzhou is one of them (you can see I'm very much at the start of planning this trip!)

Patricia it was not wet.
I wrote a (very long) trip report that included my first trip to Shanghai and then another that included the a trip to Burma and then to Shanghai and the wonderful train ride from Shanghai to Hong Kong:
Neither trip was recent and there is a lot of chatter, as the Asia board was very tight in those days....when we were all younger!
I LOVED Shanghai!

Back from 21 Superb Days in Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai

BURMA, SHANGHAI, HONG KONG--PART TWO OF ASIAN ODYSSEY 2010