VacationSelector
The Forbidden City, Beijing
BeijingThe Forbidden City
Camelback Mountain above the city, Scottsdale
ScottsdaleCamelback Mountain above the city

Photos: Beijing by BI ravencrow, Pexels License; Scottsdale by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Beijing or Scottsdale?

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
  • getting around
  • prices

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

Choose Scottsdale for

  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors
  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Scottsdale’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, Scottsdale 8: Scottsdale leads by 2 points.
Food & drink. Beijing 81, Scottsdale 46: Beijing leads by 35 points.
Culture & sights. Beijing 93, Scottsdale 38: Beijing leads by 55 points.
Nightlife. Beijing 58, Scottsdale 52: Beijing leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Beijing 60, Scottsdale 68: Scottsdale leads by 8 points.
Day trips. Beijing 85, Scottsdale 50: Beijing leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Beijing 64, Scottsdale 60: Beijing leads by 4 points.
Getting around. Beijing 69, Scottsdale 20: Beijing leads by 49 points.
Shopping & style. Beijing 72, Scottsdale 60: Beijing leads by 12 points.
Affordability. Beijing 68, Scottsdale 32: Beijing leads by 36 points.
Live music & performing arts. Beijing 68, Scottsdale 40: Beijing leads by 28 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Beijing 55, Scottsdale 72: Scottsdale leads by 17 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Beijing and Scottsdale.

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 getting around with your weighting.

Scottsdale
46match

Wins on wellness and nature and the outdoors 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

Scottsdale in July

41 °Cdaytime high
29 °Cnight-time low
23 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°50°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200JFMAMJJASOND
BeijingScottsdale

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Beijing: 1991-2020 normals, Beijing (11.1 km from centre). Scottsdale: 1991-2020 normals, Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport (13.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBeijingScottsdale
Official languagePutonghua-
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-7
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119911
Elevation43 m380 m
Main airportBeijing Capital International Airport (PEK)25 km from centre104 non-stop destinationsPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX)10 km from centre148 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureBeijingScottsdale
City population21,893,095241,361
People per km²1,334-
Museums within 10 km8310
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 Scottsdale 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.