Best time to visit Qingdao

Qingdao is a city of two halves. October scores 92 and February scores 30 — a 62-point swing, which is the difference between a holiday and an endurance test. The month you pick matters more here than almost anywhere. 4 of the twelve months sit within ten points of the best, so there is more than one right answer.

August is the warmest month at 27.5 °C and January the coolest at 3.7 °C — a 23.8 °C spread across the year. 39 nights a year dip below freezing.

There is a real wet season here. July to August carry the rain — up to 17 wet days in a month — while January, February, March, October, November and December drop as low as 2. That 15-day gap is the biggest single difference between a good month and a bad one in Qingdao, and it moves further than the temperature does.

The sea is comfortable for swimming in July to September — 26.6 °C at its warmest against 6.3 °C at its coldest. The water peaks a month or two after the air does, so the best swimming falls later in the year than the best weather. Daylight runs from 9.7 hours in winter to 14.6 in summer, enough to notice on a sightseeing itinerary.

The three strongest months are October, September, June. The one to think twice about is February. Each month below has its own page with rainfall reliability, extremes, daylight, sea temperature and crowd levels.

Qingdao month by month