VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
Wat Chiang Man in the old city, Chiang Mai
Chiang MaiWat Chiang Man in the old city

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Chiang Mai by Gije Cho, Pexels License.

Chengdu 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 Chengdu for

  • getting around
  • day trips
  • nightlife

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

Choose Chiang Mai for

  • wellness
  • prices
  • culture and sights

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. Chengdu 5, Chiang Mai 6: Chiang Mai leads by 1 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Chiang Mai 78: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Chiang Mai 65: Chiang Mai leads by 5 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Chiang Mai 45: Chengdu leads by 23 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Chiang Mai 73: Chiang Mai leads by 5 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Chiang Mai 48: Chengdu leads by 32 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Chiang Mai 55: Chengdu leads by 10 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Chiang Mai 38: Chengdu leads by 36 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Chiang Mai 62: Chengdu leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Chiang Mai 90: Chiang Mai leads by 10 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Chiang Mai 30: Chengdu leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Chiang Mai 82: Chiang Mai leads by 24 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Chiang Mai.

Your match

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

Chengdu
Best match
63match

Wins on getting around 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.

Chengdu in July

31 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
177 mmrain in the month
4 hsunshine a day
14 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
ChengduChiang Mai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Chiang Mai: 1991-2020 normals, Chiang Mai (0.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduChiang 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
Elevation500 m310 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsChiang Mai International Airport (CNX)3 km from centre28 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days-

By the numbers

MeasureChengduChiang Mai
City population20,937,7571,198,000
People per km²1,4562,958
Museums within 10 km106
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

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