VacationSelector
The Forbidden City, Beijing
BeijingThe Forbidden City
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city

Photos: Beijing by BI ravencrow, Pexels License; Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License.

Beijing or Chiang Mai?

Our verdict in twelve categories, each scored against the same fixed benchmark cities, and the climate month by month, so you can choose for your trip.

Choose Beijing for

  • live music and the arts
  • day trips
  • getting around

What lies behind each score is written up on Beijing’s own page.

Choose Chiang Mai for

  • wellness
  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Chiang Mai’s own page.

Scoreboard

Twelve categories on one fixed scale from 0 to 100. The shaded stretch is the gap between the two.

Beaches & swimming. Beijing and Chiang Mai are level on 6.
Food & drink. Beijing 81, Chiang Mai 78: Beijing leads by 3 points.
Culture & sights. Beijing 93, Chiang Mai 65: Beijing leads by 28 points.
Nightlife. Beijing 58, Chiang Mai 45: Beijing leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Beijing 60, Chiang Mai 73: Chiang Mai leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Beijing 85, Chiang Mai 48: Beijing leads by 37 points.
Good for families. Beijing 64, Chiang Mai 55: Beijing leads by 9 points.
Getting around. Beijing 69, Chiang Mai 38: Beijing leads by 31 points.
Shopping & style. Beijing 72, Chiang Mai 62: Beijing leads by 10 points.
Affordability. Beijing 68, Chiang Mai 90: Chiang Mai leads by 22 points.
Live music & performing arts. Beijing 68, Chiang Mai 30: Beijing leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Beijing 55, Chiang Mai 82: Chiang Mai leads by 27 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Beijing and Chiang Mai.

Your match

Pick a travel style or drag the sliders, and both match scores follow your weighting.

Beijing
Best match
65match

Wins on live music and the arts and day trips with your weighting.

Chiang Mai
56match

Wins on wellness and prices with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Beijing in July

32 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
163 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Chiang Mai in July

32 °Cdaytime high
24 °Cnight-time low
153 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
BeijingChiang Mai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Beijing: 1991-2020 normals, Beijing (11.1 km from centre). Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBeijingChiang Mai
Official languagePutonghuaThai
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Baht (THB)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzABCF220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+7
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 191, ambulance 1669, fire 199
Elevation43 m310 m
Main airportBeijing Capital International Airport (PEK)25 km from centre104 non-stop destinationsChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days-

By the numbers

MeasureBeijingChiang Mai
City population21,893,0951,198,000
People per km²1,3342,958
Museums within 10 km836
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km60

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Beijing or Chiang Mai somewhere new.

Browse every destination

Sources

Structured data from Wikidata (CC0). Weather data by Meteostat. Meteorological data provided by NOAA, DWD and others. Rainfall where no rain gauge is within 25 km is from the TerraClimate 1991-2020 climatology (Abatzoglou et al. 2018, Scientific Data), read at the city. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. Non-stop route lists from the "Airlines and destinations" tables on English Wikipedia airport articles, by Wikipedia contributors, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Currency from the ISO 4217 register maintained by SIX, cross-checked against country data from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Price level from World Bank open data (PPP conversion factor for private consumption and official exchange rate), CC BY 4.0. Time zones from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0); clock offsets computed from the IANA time zone database. Daylight hours computed from each destination's latitude using the NOAA solar position algorithm.

Category scores are our editorial verdict under rubric v3, each placed against the same fixed benchmark cities; the climate figures are measured. How the scores are set. Snapshot generated 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.