What's on in Pingyao, China through the year

Peak crowds — Spring Festival in the walled town, Winter break (around Chinese New Year) in China

• Holiday

  Spring Festival in the walled town

  20 Jan – 28 Feb · usuallyLunar New YearCrowdedClosures

  The old town hangs lanterns from the wall to the Ming street and fills with domestic visitors for the fortnight to the Lantern Festival, while the courtyard guesthouses that stay open charge for it. Source ↗

Still on: Heating-season smog (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually))

Peak crowds — Spring Festival in the walled town, Winter break (around Chinese New Year) in China

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: Spring Festival in the walled town (20 Jan – 28 Feb (usually)), Heating-season smog (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in March.

Still on: Heating-season smog (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually))

Busy — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in April.

Peak crowds — May Day holiday, Dragon Boat Festival long weekend

• Holiday

  May Day holiday

  1–5 MayGolden WeekCrowded

  One of the two busiest weeks of the year: a quarter of a million visitors in five days, South Street too packed to walk and attraction hours extended. Come the week after instead. Source ↗

• Holiday

  Dragon Boat Festival long weekend

  28 May – 25 Jun · usuallyNational holidayCrowded

  A three-day public holiday on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month sends Shanxi day-trippers into the walled town; hotels inside the walls sell out for the weekend itself. Source ↗

Busy — Dragon Boat Festival long weekend, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Dragon Boat Festival long weekend (28 May – 25 Jun (usually))

Peak crowds — Summer holiday crowds, Summer break in China

• Season

  Summer holiday crowds

  10 Jul – 31 Aug · usuallySchool holidaysCrowded

  School summer holidays bring families from all over China, with afternoon thunderstorms and heat on top. Walk the walls early in the morning and leave the main streets for the evening. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Summer holiday crowds, Summer break in China

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Summer holiday crowds (10 Jul – 31 Aug (usually))

Busy — Pingyao photography festival, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Pingyao photography festival

  19–25 Sep · usuallyArts festivalCrowdedBook early

  For a week in September the disused factories and courtyards outside the wall are hung with several thousand photographers' work, and every bed inside the wall is taken. Source ↗

Peak crowds — National Day golden week, National Day Golden Week in China

• Holiday

  National Day golden week

  1–7 OctCrowdedBook early

  One of the two weeks the whole country travels, and a walled town of one square mile is exactly the wrong shape for it. The through-ticket queues start before the gates open. Source ↗

Busy — one of its best months for weather

• Hazard

  Heating-season smog

  15 Nov – 15 Mar · usuallyWinter smog

  Shanxi is China's coal province and the central heating goes on in the middle of November. The basin holds an inversion for days at a time and the air, not the cold, is what shortens a visit. Source ↗

Shoulder season — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Heating-season smog (15 Nov – 15 Mar (usually))