Dali (Erhai) weather in March

The Lijiang forum treats Jade Dragon Snow Mountain as a weather decision rather than a date one - tickets are refundable when conditions close it, so regulars pick a clear morning and go early, both for the view and to get ahead of the crowds. March they describe as a cold month, which our row bears out in a specific way: 18.3C by day but 4.8C at night, feeling like 3C after dark. Altitude is the other thing they insist on. The cable car finishes at 4,506m and the climb continues to about 4,680m, high enough that headaches and mild nausea are common for anyone who has not been up before. The record: 5.3 precipitation days carrying 20.7mm, humidity 59 percent and 10.7 hours of sun.

Yunnan forum posters generally rate October as a pleasant month for Dali - sunny and warm by day, with a light jacket needed once the sun drops in the evening. Early October can still run a bit cool and cloudy with occasional rain, a holdover from the tail end of the wet season, so several posters suggested mid-to-late October both for milder weather and to skip the crowds and high prices of China's National Day holiday week. Overall it's considered comfortable layering weather rather than either extreme.

Forum posters describe April across Yunnan (Dali included) as one of the better months overall, though genuinely cold mornings and evenings persist alongside comfortable daytime warmth - temperature swings of roughly 8-18C within a single day are commonly cited, with winter-weight layers, gloves and a cap recommended for early/late hours even as daytime sportswear or a light jacket suffices. Posters name June through September as the region's rainy season, meaning April sits comfortably in the drier part of the year, with early May and late September named as similarly favorable low-rain windows. Posters note Yunnan's elevation varies significantly city to city, so conditions can shift meaningfully even within the same itinerary depending on altitude.