Top 5 places to visit in China during September
September is one of the best months to visit China. The intense summer heat begins to lessen marking the beginning of the autumn season. September is when you see many different colours, some plants turning red, and some turning yellow. It is also the time when school summer holidays end and the popular tourist destinations become less crowded with local visitors.
Here are top 5 places to visit in September in China.
1. Beijing City and The Great Wall
The weather in September makes it a much cooler walk along the Great Wall from Mutianyu, and for strolling around Beijing, visiting the Forbidden City (Imperial palace), the Temple of Heaven (Imperial Temple) and the Summer Palace (Imperial vacation palace). And, of course, for wondering around the Hutong area sampling the tasty local cuisine.
2. Yellow mountain
September is the best time to visit China’s mountains. The Yellow Mountain in Anhui, is a great destination to see, what is known as, the King of the Chinese mountains. It is recognised as one of the most beautiful mountains in China, and autumn is a good time to enjoy the scenery, the famous sunset, the fragrant pine trees and the weirdly shaped granite peaks shrouded in a sea of clouds. The mountain has over 100 million years of history and has been an inspiration for many ancient Chinese painters, poets and writers. You can see the beauty and the shape of the Huangshan landscape in many traditional Chinese paintings.
3. Li River Cruise and Cormorant Fishing Show
Join a four hour cruise on the breathtaking Li River towards Yangshuo. Enjoy the tranquil rural scenes of buffalo farming and the towering karst mountain peaks.
Later in the evening, you are recommended to join the cormorant fishing show. This practice has existed in the shallows of the Li River, for over a thousand years. The fishermen use the cormorants to dive under water and catch the fish with their beaks before returning to their owner.
4. Longji Terraced Fields
The Longji Terraced Fields are among the most stunning rice field areas in the world. Located in Heping town in Longsheng, a two hour drive from Guilin, the ladder-like terraced rice fields, stretch all the way from the bottom of the mountain to the top. They are belt-shaped, long and narrow, with most only just wide enough for two rows of crops. During the September harvest season, the reflection of the sun in the water-filled paddy fields, and the ripe rice crops look magnificent, like a golden ocean.
5. Pingyao Ancient city, Datong Yungang Grottoes and 1400 years old Hanging Monastery
The Pingyao world heritage site, gives an insight into the architectural style of Imperial China. Our city walking tour travels from the Ancient City Walls, through the streets dating from Ming and Qing dynasties, to the Rishengchang Financial House Museum (first draft bank in China), to the Zhenguo and Shuang Lin Temples.
The Datong Yungang Grottoes, is a Buddhist temple, with 252 caves and 51,000 Buddha statues and rock carvings. The Yungang Buddhist grottoes is a masterpiece of early Chinese Buddhist cave art from the 5th and 6th centuries.
The 1500-year-old Hanging Monastery on Mt. Hengshan is a temple that was brilliantly built into a cliff, without nails. The structure is fitted into the bedrock of the cliffs with oak crossbeams and is still standing after all these years. Another unique fact about the monastery is it combines Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism worshiping.
A selection of tours for inspiration
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View this packageChina Group Tour Couples
Ancient and Cosmopolitan
Explore the contrasting and diverse cities and cultures of Beijing, Xian and Hong Kong.
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View this packageChina Group Tour Culture
China Essential
A 10 day small group tour of China's three main cities - Beijing, Xian and Shanghai
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View this packageChina Group Tour Cruise
China Highlights
China Highlights includes two of China’s most scenic rivers - the Yangtze River, and the beautiful Li River.