Best Time to Visit Jinan

 Mild Weather with no Extreme Conditions
Spring in Jinan is mild with a little rain, and features warm midday temperatures and slightly cooler mornings and evenings. Most days are sunny with ample sunshine and high visibility, making for excellent photo opportunities. With comfortable temperatures, the weather is adorable for outdoor activities: climbing up Qianfo Hill to overlook the whole city, taking a walk or riding along Daming Lake, or having a city walk to cover the famous springs. 
 Clear Springs + Flowers + Green Willows = Best Sceneries. 
From late March to April, Jinan enters its flower season: willows sprout and crabapple bloom along Daming Lake, magnolias and peonies open at Baotu Spring, and pines and cypresses on Qianfo Mountain turn new green and the mountain is adorned with wildflowers. After May, the vegetation becomes lush, covering the entire city in green. Qushuiting Street, with willows standing by every door and the spring river running under the houses, perfectly blends natural landscapes with the art of buildings. The soul of Jinan is its springs. While the spring water is clear year-round, it becomes even more vibrant and beautiful in spring, against the backdrop of green willows and colorful flowers, attracting many photography enthusiasts every year to bring home some memorable images.
  Churning Springs in their Wettest Period
After abundant rainfall in summer, the watery city welcomes its wettest period in autumn with highest underground water level. Springs gush vigorously like Baotu Spring with three jets, Mo Spring and Meihua Spring in Mingshui Ancient Town. Walking on the wet stone paths, you can even see the spring water seeping through the joints and wet your shoes. 

 Charming Autumn Foliage and Hues
Jinan has a lot to offer in autumn season. Baotu Spring Park, Lingtan Temple, Tangdou Temple entice travelers for their thousand-year-old gingko trees with golden leaves. From late October to November, Baotu Spring holds chrysanthemum show annually and the whole park is decorated by a large number of chrysanthemums with rich colors and in different shapes. The vegetation on Qianfo Hill is dressed in reddish hues and you will see a sea of fiery-red and a bird view of Jinan city on the top. 
 Jinan’s summer is long and baking hot. At midday in July, the sun bakes down on the concrete and your feet can feel the searing heat even with shoes on. Jinan experiences both rain and heat simultaneously in summer. Summer rainfall, accompanied by lightning and strong winds, is frequent and torrential. Due to abundant groundwater, Jinan’s subway system is not developed which makes traffic prone to congestion during heavy rains. Furthermore, the heatwave follows the rain, transforming the dry heat of sunny days into muggy conditions, equally unbearable. While the lotus flowers at Daming Lake bloom in June, this beautiful scenery and comfortable experience are hard to reconcile.
 Winter temperatures sometimes dip below -10 degrees Celsius, and winds are common, though not strong, they sting your face like ice knives. Icy roads are common during rain and snow, easily causing traffic jams. Tourists from warmer climates may suffer from frostbite due to long-time outdoor sightseeing, so you need to bundle up. Air quality is not that good in winter due to centralized heating. 

Another drawback is its aridity. Your nasal passages may bleed due to excessive dryness, and your skin and lips may become chapped. If you’re coming for the snow, you’ll need some luck, as Jinan hasn’t had many snow days in recent years — only one or two short-lived snowfalls a month with little snow accumulation.
 Public holidays in China are undoubtedly the time to avoid. Attractions are incredibly crowded, with extremely long queues and accommodation is costly. The queues at Baotu Spring can stretch for a mile, and you might wait four hours to board a boat on Daming Lake. Even buying snacks on Furong Street involves long lines. The crowds in Baotu Spring Park are so dense that you have to push your way through the crowd to see the spring mouths, and the restrooms are also overflowing. 

Traffic is severely congested during holidays; a journey of one or two kilometers can take more than half an hour by taxi. The areas around scenic spots are plagued by chaotic and unregulated tricycles decorated with flowers looking for passengers at exorbitantly high prices. 

See also: China Holiday Calendar