Shrubs or small trees, evergreen, to 5 m tall. Bark light brown. Branchlets of current year sparsely or densely yellowish stellate-pubescent, glabrescent; branchlets of previous year gray-brownish, terete, glabrous, with dispersed, small, rounded lenticels. Winter buds ovoid-oblong, with 2 pairs of separate scales; scales reddish brown, stellate-pubescent, apex acute. Leaves always opposite, not clustered at apices of branchlets; stipules absent; petiole green or reddish, robust, 1-2 cm, sparsely yellowish stellate-pubescent, glabrescent; leaf blade purplish green when young, elliptic, ovate-elliptic, or obovate to obovate-oblong, 3.5-9 cm, subleathery, abaxially sparsely yellowish stellate-pubescent or glabrescent on veins, adaxially lustrous, midvein raised abaxially, lateral veins ca. 6-jugate, pinnate, arched, rarely branched, anastomosing near margin, conspicuously raised abaxially, slightly impressed adaxially, veinlets transverse, inconspicuous or slightly impressed on both surfaces, not lobed, base broadly cuneate or obtuse, without glands, margin serrate except at base, apices of teeth slightly mucronate, apex shortly acute or obtuse, sometimes abruptly narrowed and shortly caudate. Flowers appearing with leaves; inflorescence paniculate, terminal, 5-6 × 4.5-5 cm; rays opposite, decussate; first node of inflorescence with 2 rays, lax, yellowish stellate-pubescent, without large sterile radiant flowers; peduncles (2-)3.5-4.5(-6) cm; bracts caducous, leaflike, reddish, linear to linear-lanceolate, ciliate; bracteoles linear. Flowers on rays of 1st order or 2nd order, not fragrant, mostly sessile. Calyx reddish; tube tubular, ca. 2 mm, glabrous; lobes ovate-triangular, short, less than 1 mm, glabrous, apex obtuse. Corolla pinkish in bud, white when open, funnelform-hypocrateriform, ca. 6 mm in diam., glabrous; tube ca. 7 mm; lobes spreading, broadly ovate, 2-3 mm, apex rounded, margin entire. Stamens nearly as long as corolla, inserted at apex of corolla tube; filaments ca. 2 mm; anthers purple-blackish, oblong, ca. 1.5 mm. Styles exceeding calyx lobes; stigmas capitate. Fruit maturing red, obovoid-orbicular, ca. 8 × 6 mm, base rounded, apex rounded, glabrous; pyrenes compressed, obovoid, ca. 7 × 4 mm, with 1 broad and deep ventral groove, apex rounded. Fl. Apr-May, fr. Jun-Oct.

Viburnum chingii is very similar to V. erubescens; so much so that it may be included in the variation of the latter taxon.

Forests, thickets; 1500-3200 m. ?Sichuan, Yunnan [N Myanmar].