Backpacking China in July

[barronrandall]

Hi,

I am currently trying to plan a 2 week backpacking trip around China in July. However it seems that this is not the best month to be travelling in because of the blistering heat in all areas.

I was wandering whether anybody happens to have any good recommendations for July as to what areas would be good to see. Maybe the mountainous regions aren't too hot??

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Meng Lelan]

I was wondering kind of the same thing. In fact I was thinking Huangshan in July but I don't know...went there in August some 20 years ago and it was raining the whole time I was there.

[renzhe]

Huashan was very warm in March, so I don't think it will be cold in July.

[taylor04]

Can't speak for Huangshan, but I lived in Hangzhou last year. In late July it got up to 45 celsius or over 110 fahrenheit. Hangzhou is not too far from Huangshan, and while it might be a little cooler because of elevation, I'm sure you will still be miserable.

I went to Sichuan last July, while it was hot, it was a bit cooler than Hangzhou. It was also a great place to go.

[anonymoose]

There are so many good places in China to go - in two weeks you will only be able to scratch the surface.

I may also go traveling for a week or so in July (although I am in China anyway). I am thinking about going (back) to Yunnan. It is in the south, so will be quite hot, but during the summer, even the north can get quite hot.

The north on Yunnan is in the mountains, so should be relatively cool anyway. There is Dali, Lijiang and Shangrila which are all excellent places to visit. (I've been to Lijiang and Dali before, and only due to lack of time did I not go to Shangrila last time.) In the south is Xishuangbanna, which is quite undeveloped, at least by east coast standards, but because of this, it has retained a lot of its authenticity and natural beauty, and it is also an ethnic minority area which makes it quite different from the rest of China. I'm not sure what the temperature will be like in July - I suspect very hot.