VacationSelector
The Story Bridge from Howard Smith Wharves, Brisbane
BrisbaneThe Story Bridge from Howard Smith Wharves
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River

Photos: Brisbane by Kgbo, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Brisbane or Chengdu?

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 Brisbane for

  • beaches
  • families
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Chengdu for

  • prices
  • day trips
  • food and drink

What lies behind each score is written up on Chengdu’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. Brisbane 55, Chengdu 5: Brisbane leads by 50 points.
Food & drink. Brisbane 60, Chengdu 86: Chengdu leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Brisbane 42, Chengdu 60: Chengdu leads by 18 points.
Nightlife. Brisbane 55, Chengdu 68: Chengdu leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Brisbane 74, Chengdu 68: Brisbane leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Brisbane 50, Chengdu 80: Chengdu leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Brisbane 78, Chengdu 65: Brisbane leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Brisbane 62, Chengdu 74: Chengdu leads by 12 points.
Shopping & style. Brisbane 45, Chengdu 64: Chengdu leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Brisbane 33, Chengdu 80: Chengdu leads by 47 points.
Live music & performing arts. Brisbane 55, Chengdu 50: Brisbane leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Brisbane 40, Chengdu 58: Chengdu leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Brisbane and Chengdu.

Your match

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

Brisbane
54match

Wins on beaches and families with your weighting.

Chengdu
Best match
63match

Wins on prices and day trips with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Brisbane in July

22 °Cdaytime high
10 °Cnight-time low
27 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
20 °Csea
11 hdaylight a day

Chengdu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
177 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
BrisbaneChengdu

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Brisbane: 1991-2020 normals, Brisbane (4.5 km from centre). Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureBrisbaneChengdu
Official languageEnglishPutonghua
CurrencyAustralian Dollar (AUD)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsI230 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+10UTC+8
Emergency number000Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation0 m500 m
Main airportBrisbane International Airport (BNE)13 km from centre88 non-stop destinationsChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year11 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasureBrisbaneChengdu
City population2,706,96620,937,757
People per km²1711,456
Museums within 10 km1610
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C9 months-

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Brisbane or Chengdu 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. 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.