VacationSelector
The Forbidden City, Beijing
BeijingThe Forbidden City
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Beijing by BI ravencrow, Pexels License; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Beijing or Philadelphia?

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

  • wellness
  • prices
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • beaches
  • families
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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, Philadelphia 36: Philadelphia leads by 30 points.
Food & drink. Beijing 81, Philadelphia 62: Beijing leads by 19 points.
Culture & sights. Beijing 93, Philadelphia 72: Beijing leads by 21 points.
Nightlife. Beijing 58, Philadelphia 55: Beijing leads by 3 points.
Nature & outdoors. Beijing 60, Philadelphia 52: Beijing leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Beijing 85, Philadelphia 80: Beijing leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Beijing 64, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Beijing 69, Philadelphia 66: Beijing leads by 3 points.
Shopping & style. Beijing 72, Philadelphia 57: Beijing leads by 15 points.
Affordability. Beijing 68, Philadelphia 40: Beijing leads by 28 points.
Live music & performing arts. Beijing 68, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Beijing 55, Philadelphia 26: Beijing leads by 29 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Beijing and Philadelphia.

Your match

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

Beijing
Best match
65match

Wins on wellness and prices with your weighting.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on beaches and families 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

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
BeijingPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Beijing: 1991-2020 normals, Beijing (11.1 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBeijingPhiladelphia
Official languagePutonghua-
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119911
Elevation43 m12 m
Main airportBeijing Capital International Airport (PEK)25 km from centre104 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureBeijingPhiladelphia
City population21,893,0951,603,797
People per km²1,3344,339
Museums within 10 km8354
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 Philadelphia 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.