Best Time to Visit Shanghai, Month by Month

The best time to visit Shanghai is from late September to November. The summer heat has gone, October is the driest month of the year, typhoons are rare after mid-September, and the hairy crab season starts. April and May are the next best: mild and green, with a little more rain. The rest of the year is not a write-off, but each season has one specific problem, and it helps to know which.

The figures below are the official 1991–2020 averages for Xujiahui, the city’s main weather station in central Shanghai.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 China Meteorological Administration normals 1991–2020 via Wikipedia’s Shanghai article; best-season advice from China Highlights (Apr 2026) and wanderinchina.com (Mar 2026).

Shanghai weather by month

A rain day here means at least 0.1 mm, so many of them are drizzle. Still, Shanghai averages 131 of them a year. Pack an umbrella whatever the month.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 CMA normals 1991–2020 (Xujiahui) via Wikipedia, rounded to the nearest millimetre.

Autumn (September to November): the best time to visit Shanghai

September starts hot, with average highs near 29°C, and the typhoon season is not quite over: in September 2024 Typhoon Bebinca made landfall in Shanghai, the strongest storm to hit the city since 1949, and stopped flights, ferries and trains. China Highlights puts the point where the risk falls off at mid-September. From then until late November Shanghai is at its easiest. October averages 23.5°C by day and has the fewest rain days of the year, 7.5; November is cooler at about 18°C. One air-quality guide also rates autumn as the cleanest season.

There are two extra reasons to come now. The hairy crab season opened at the end of September and peaks from mid-October into November, and the plane trees of the French Concession turn from mid-November to mid-December. The catch is the first week of October: National Day Golden Week, 1 to 7 October 2026, when much of China is on holiday at once. The Bund at night and the trains out of town are at their most crowded. Come the week after.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Bebinca from Sixth Tone (16 Sep 2024); typhoon risk and foliage from China Highlights (Apr 2026); air quality from citiesinsider.com (2026); crab season from Guangming Daily (Sep 2026); holiday dates from Xinhua (official 2026 schedule).

Spring (March to May)

March is still cool, around 15°C by day, and the wettest month of the spring. Cherry blossom comes in late March and early April. April and May are the best of the season, at 21°C and 26°C, with the city at its greenest. China Highlights counts about nine rainy days in a typical spring month against six in autumn, which is why we put spring second.

Watch two dates in 2027. The Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix is on 16 to 18 April 2027, which pushes up hotel prices that weekend. And the May Day holiday, 1 to 5 May in 2026, is the second-busiest travel week of the year; the official 2027 dates had not been published when we checked.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 CMA normals via Wikipedia; blossom and rain-day comparison from China Highlights (Apr 2026); F1 calendar from formula1.com (announced 16 Sep 2026); May Day 2026 from Xinhua.

Summer (June to August)

Summer has two problems, one after the other. The first is the plum rain, meiyu, a front that parks over the Yangtze delta and brings weeks of humid, grey, wet days. Its normal start in Shanghai is 19 June. In 2026 it ran from 18 June to 7 July; in 2025, from 7 to 29 June. June is one of the two wettest months, at 225 mm.

The second is heat. July averages 33°C by day and 26°C at night, with humidity around 76–79%, and Shanghai sees about 21 days a year above 35°C; the record is 40.9°C. Typhoons arrive in the same months. In 2026 alone, Typhoon Bawi cancelled 653 flights at Shanghai’s airports on 12 July, and Typhoon Dolphin suspended 1,384 flights and stopped trains on 9–10 August. Observation decks close in storms too.

If summer is your only window, it is still workable: the metro and the museums are air-conditioned, and evenings on the Bund are pleasant. Plan indoor afternoons, keep a day of slack, and check the forecast before booking a river cruise. The Shanghai International Film Festival is in mid-June (12–21 June in 2026).

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Plum-rain dates from The Paper (Jun 2025, Jun 2026) and Guangming Daily (7 Jul 2026); temperatures and record from CMA normals via Wikipedia; Bawi from Guangming Daily (12 Jul 2026); Dolphin from Nation Thailand (9 Aug 2026); film festival from the Shanghai government (May 2026).

Winter (December to February)

Winter is short on sun and long on damp: January averages 8.7°C by day and 2.9°C at night, and many older buildings are poorly heated, so it feels colder than the figures suggest. Snow is rare; the record low is −10.1°C, from 1977. Air quality is at its worst in these months, and on 15 January 2026 the AQI passed 200.

The upside is price. China Highlights estimates winter hotels at about 30% below peak, and the main sights are quiet. The exception is Chinese New Year, which falls on 6 February 2027: the days around it are the biggest travel period of the year, and some shops close. Yu Garden’s Lantern Festival show runs through the season (26 January to 3 March in 2026, ¥80 for adults); the 2027 dates are not out yet.

Checked 3 Oct 2026 CMA normals and record low via Wikipedia; AQI from IQAir (16 Jan 2026); prices from China Highlights (Apr 2026); Chinese New Year from chinatravel.com; Lantern Festival from the Shanghai government (16 Jan 2026).

Holidays and events, October 2026 to May 2027

Checked 3 Oct 2026 Xinhua (2026 holidays); chinatravel.com (Chinese New Year and Lantern Festival 2027); formula1.com (2027 calendar). The State Council had not published the 2027 holiday schedule on 3 October 2026; the 2026 one came out in November 2025.

Our pick

If you can choose, aim for mid-October to mid-November, avoiding Golden Week. Second choice, the second half of April or May outside the holiday. Once the dates are fixed, the 3-day Shanghai itinerary, things to do in Shanghai and where to stay in Shanghai cover the rest. For the whole country, our best time to visit China guide puts Shanghai’s calendar next to everywhere else.