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Photo by Terry Wu, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Best time to visit Zhangye
China · East Asia
All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.
The year in Zhangye
Tap a month for its page
- JanJZhangye in January: avoid
- FebFZhangye in February: avoid
- MarMZhangye in March: good
- AprAZhangye in April: sweet spot
- MayMZhangye in May: sweet spot
- JunJZhangye in June: sweet spot
- JulJZhangye in July: good, busy
- AugAZhangye in August: sweet spot
- SepSZhangye in September: sweet spot
- OctOZhangye in October: good
- NovNZhangye in November: ok
- DecDZhangye in December: avoid
- Sweet spot
- Good
- OK
- Avoid
- Busy
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Where to stay
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Luxury
Things to do
Car hire
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Travel insurance
Check whether your bank card or home insurance already covers this trip.
If the trip needs a visa, the travel agent or visa centre usually sells the cover it asks for.
Mobile data (eSIM)
Your own plan's EU roaming may already cover this.
Renting a pocket Wi-Fi is the other common way to stay connected.
These are sites people in book with. Each opens in a new tab, on the site's own pages.
Month by month
| Month | Max °C | Rain days | Humidity | Sun h/day | Verdict | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 1° | 0d | 43% | 8.6h | avoid | bitter cold: 1C daily max |
| Feb | 5° | 0d | 37% | 9.4h | avoid | bitter cold: 5C daily max |
| Mar | 13° | 0d | 31% | 9.8h | good | 13C max, 0 rainy days |
| Apr | 19° | 2d | 32% | 9.2h | sweet spot | 19C max, 2 rainy days |
| May | 25° | 4d | 32% | 9.6h | sweet spot | 25C max, 4 rainy days |
| Jun | 29° | 3d | 36% | 9.9h | sweet spot | 29C max, 3 rainy days |
| Jul | 31° | 3d | 43% | 10.1h | goodbusy | busier than usual |
| Aug | 29° | 4d | 48% | 9.3h | sweet spot | 29C max, 4 rainy days |
| Sep | 25° | 4d | 48% | 9.4h | sweet spot | 25C max, 4 rainy days |
| Oct | 17° | 2d | 46% | 8.8h | good | 17C max, 2 rainy days |
| Nov | 8° | 1d | 40% | 8.8h | ok | 8C max, 1 rainy day |
| Dec | 1° | 0d | 45% | 8.3h | avoid | bitter cold: 1C daily max |
Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.
Weather read at the city, 24 km from the airport (YZY): ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.
A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.
How busy it gets
Then and now
Zhangye's March days now average 13.1°C, 4.6°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 10 of 12 months are clearly warmer.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981–90 | -0.4° | 2.0° | 8.5° | 15.9° | 21.9° | 25.1° | 27.1° | 26.1° | 21.6° | 14.8° | 6.1° | 0.9° |
| 2017–26 | 0.9° | 5.1° | 13.1° | 19.1° | 24.9° | 29.2° | 31.4° | 29.3° | 24.7° | 16.6° | 8.4° | 1.0° |
| Change | +1.3° | +3.2° | +4.6° | +3.3° | +3.0° | +4.0° | +4.3° | +3.2° | +3.1° | +1.9° | +2.2° | +0.1° |
The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.
Getting there
How far Zhangye is depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.
- from Kathmandu
- from Hanoi
- from Kolkata
- from Hong Kong
- from Lucknow
- from Seoul
- from Delhi
- from Taipei
Open in Rome2rio for every way from to Zhangye, flying or not.
Before you go
Type A and C and I plugs at 220 V. Drives on the right. The currency is the Renminbi. No UK Foreign Office advice against travel. Global Affairs Canada: Exercise a high degree of caution (with regional advisories). US State Department: Level 2: Exercise Increased Caution. Everything for China: cost of living, languages, emergency numbers and health.
Being there
On arrival
- Paying — Most payments are made by phone with Alipay or WeChat Pay: link a Visa, Mastercard or other foreign card to either app, then scan the shop's QR code. Many hotels and larger shops take foreign cards, but many places do not, so carry some yuan in case the apps fail you.
- UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
- Tipping — Not expected in most restaurants and hotels, or in taxis; bars and cafeterias in hotels, and some other restaurants and bars, may add a 10-15% service charge.
Getting around Zhangye
- Apps — Rides: DiDi, Amap. Maps: Amap, Baidu Maps, Apple Maps. Messages: WeChat. Google and WhatsApp are blocked in mainland China, as are Facebook, YouTube and X; WeChat, Alipay and DiDi all work in English.
Bus fares are ¥1 - correct change only. As of 2026, you need a Chinese ID number to register a city bus card in Alipay, so foreigners are limited to cash payments. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Zhangye, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Help
- Emergency — police 110 · ambulance 120 · fire 119. Traffic police are on 122.
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.
Your embassy — : how to reach your embassy or consulate abroad. A guess from your city, : a city is not a passport.
Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 7 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.
Sources (27)
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/china/getting-help
- gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/china/safety-and-security
- travel.gc.ca/destinations/china
- auswaertiges-amt.de/de/service/laender/china-node/chinasicherheit-200466
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-PaymentsInShanghai/20260920/f22b7e0f606c407e9da9d26b089eac48.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-PaymentMethods/20240313/6f4e58272f1a4cea9aec59c518915bdf.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-UsefulApps/20231214/3cac2d8cc7f847da92a72252bae06705.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20250627/d8f21f2e7d3b45a5b03757e35039b806.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20250614/a5c7bac93f024324ace770d3275d28b6.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-CIIE2025Service-Transport/20251017/c6c5ca124ee74e92a37244280c0983b9.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20240417/0444aa1c2f114f7eb66a0341b603bbbc.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-Latest-WhatsNew/20250711/8f2fcf3c6b624a56a6b2c0d8152ea2f2.html
- english.shanghai.gov.cn/en-FAQs-LivinginShanghai/20231214/6e73c9e64a174827beeb9b588af1255d.html
- english.beijing.gov.cn/latest/specials/essentialtipsfornewarrivals/transportation/202408/t20240830_3785706.html
- english.beijing.gov.cn/latest/news/202506/t20250616_4114250.html
- english.beijing.gov.cn/contactus/faqs/list/202602/t20260209_4502729.html
- english.beijing.gov.cn/livinginbeijing/transportation/beijingsubway/202409/t20240914_3891497.html
- english.beijing.gov.cn/consuminginbeijing/news/202410/t20241016_3921355.html
- english.visitbeijing.com.cn/article/47ONhboe35K
- apps.apple.com/us/app/didi-china-ride-hailing/id554499054
- apps.apple.com/us/app/amap-global/id461703208
- en.prnasia.com/releases/apac/tencent-announces-2026-second-quarter-results-543788.shtml
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WeChat
- en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/China
- apple.com/ios/feature-availability
- pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2286608
- rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/AnnualReport/PDFs/09PAYMENT290526C6588B796E664822A2BD0DEB6452CAD4.PDF
Zhangye in pictures
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Terry Wu, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Terry Wu, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Han Lei, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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xiquinhosilva, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
What Zhangye is like
Zhangye (张掖; Zhāngyè) is a city in Gansu Province with striking mountain scenery nearby. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth seeing
- Dafo Temple (大佛寺). Holds the largest wooden indoor reclining Buddha in China at 34.5 m (113 ft) long, 7.5 m (25 ft) high. This temple is the reputed birthplace for the Mongol emperor, Kublai Khan. ¥40; students ¥20. More on Wikivoyage
- Worth doing
- Swim in the Hei river Heihe Wetland Park (黑河湿地公园), Suburbs of Ganzhou District. Wetland habitat for birds and other wild animals with bird-watching towers. ¥30. More on Wikivoyage
- Getting in
- Zhangye Ganzhou Airport (张掖甘州机场, YZY IATA). Opened in 2011, this airport 13 km south of the city has flights to/from Xi'an, Lanzhou, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Chongqing, Urumqi and a few other domestic airports. More on Wikivoyage
From the Wikivoyage article on Zhangye, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.
Around Zhangye
Also in China
- Beijing best Apr, May, Jun
- Chengdu best Apr, May, Jun
- Chongqing best Mar, Apr, Jun
- Dali best Mar, May, Jun
- Dalian best Apr, Jun, Jul
- Datong best Apr, May, Jun
- Guilin and Yangshuo best Oct, Nov, Dec
- Hangzhou best Mar, Apr, May
- Harbin best Apr, May, Jun
- Kashgar best Mar, Apr, Jun
- Kunming best Feb, Mar, Apr
- Lhasa best Apr, Jun, Oct
- Lijiang best Mar, Apr, Nov
- Luoyang best Mar, Apr, May
- Nanjing best Mar, Apr, May
- Qingdao best Apr, Jun, Aug
- Quanzhou best Jan, Feb, Nov
- Sanya best Jan, Mar, Apr
- Shanghai best Apr, May, Nov
- Shangri-La best Jun, Sep, Nov
- Suzhou best Mar, May, Sep
- Xi'an best Mar, May, Jun
- Xiamen best Sep, Oct, Nov
Nearby
- Ulaanbaatar Mongolia · 1,126 km
- Majuli India · 1,455 km
- Tawang India · 1,492 km
- Kaziranga India · 1,516 km
Kind of place
Zhangye is in China, East Asia. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.
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