VacationSelector
The Forbidden City, Beijing
BeijingThe Forbidden City
The Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake, Guilin
GuilinThe Sun and Moon pagodas on Shan Lake

Photos: Beijing by BI ravencrow, Pexels License; Guilin by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Beijing or Guilin?

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

  • culture and sights
  • shopping
  • live music and the arts

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

Choose Guilin for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Guilin’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 6, Guilin 8: Guilin leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Beijing 81, Guilin 45: Beijing leads by 36 points.
Culture & sights. Beijing 93, Guilin 40: Beijing leads by 53 points.
Nightlife. Beijing 58, Guilin 30: Beijing leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Beijing 60, Guilin 88: Guilin leads by 28 points.
Day trips. Beijing 85, Guilin 56: Beijing leads by 29 points.
Good for families. Beijing 64, Guilin 45: Beijing leads by 19 points.
Getting around. Beijing 69, Guilin 45: Beijing leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Beijing 72, Guilin 28: Beijing leads by 44 points.
Affordability. Beijing 68, Guilin 78: Guilin leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Beijing 68, Guilin 30: Beijing leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Beijing 55, Guilin 40: Beijing leads by 15 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Beijing and Guilin.

Your match

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

Beijing
Best match
65match

Wins on culture and sights and shopping with your weighting.

Guilin
44match

Wins on nature and the outdoors 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

Guilin in July

33 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
248 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400500JFMAMJJASOND
BeijingGuilin

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Beijing: 1991-2020 normals, Beijing (11.1 km from centre). Guilin: 1991-2020 normals, Guilin (7.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBeijingGuilin
Official languagePutonghuaPutonghua
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation43 m153 m
Main airportBeijing Capital International Airport (PEK)25 km from centre104 non-stop destinationsGuilin Liangjiang International Airport (KWL)25 km from centre43 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureBeijingGuilin
City population21,893,0954,931,137
People per km²1,334-
Museums within 10 km831
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km61

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Beijing or Guilin 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.