JadeDays
Private journeys from Australia
Current China travel notes
Seasonal planning context for Australian travellers: weather, landscapes, domestic holiday movement and the practical details that change how a China trip feels.
Page last updated: 29 June 2026.In season now — summer
Summer is the moment for river mist, mountain terraces, lotus mornings and highland air. These seasonal highlights are designed to start a conversation, not send you down a fixed route.
Guilin & Yangshuo
Summer rains leave the Li River at its most lush and mist-wrapped. Glide downstream on a private bamboo raft past towering limestone peaks, sleepy riverside villages and water buffalo cooling in the shallows — the China of classic scroll paintings, at its greenest.
Longji Rice Terraces
While the lowlands swelter, the Longji highlands stay fresh and breezy. In summer the rice terraces flood and turn brilliant green, curving around the hillsides like contour lines — best explored slowly, with tea on a village balcony above the clouds.
Hangzhou
Summer is when Hangzhou's West Lake comes into bloom — vast beds of pink lotus opening across the water at dawn. Drift past them on a private wooden boat in the cool early morning, before the day warms, for the most poetic hour on the lake.
Western Sichuan
Summer is the one season the high grasslands of western Sichuan fully open up — wildflowers across the meadows, grazing yak, and crisp alpine air at altitude. A cool, wide-open contrast to the cities, where summer is the best time to go.