VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
Beira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower, Colombo
ColomboBeira Lake with Seema Malaka and the Lotus Tower

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Colombo by Mohamed Ansaf, Pexels License.

Chengdu or Colombo?

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
  • nature and the outdoors
  • nightlife

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

Choose Colombo for

  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Colombo’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, Colombo 55: Colombo leads by 50 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Colombo 66: Chengdu leads by 20 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Colombo 45: Chengdu leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Colombo 35: Chengdu leads by 33 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Colombo 32: Chengdu leads by 36 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Colombo 50: Chengdu leads by 30 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Colombo 35: Chengdu leads by 30 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Colombo 35: Chengdu leads by 39 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Colombo 45: Chengdu leads by 19 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Colombo 78: Chengdu leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Colombo 30: Chengdu leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Colombo 48: Chengdu leads by 10 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Colombo.

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 nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Colombo
46match

Wins on beaches 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
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Colombo in July

30 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
128 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
28 °Csea
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduColombo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Colombo: 1991-2020 normals, Colombo (3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduColombo
Official languagePutonghuaTamil, Sinhala
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Sri Lanka Rupee (LKR)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzGM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+5:30
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 119, ambulance 110, fire 110
Elevation500 m1 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsBandaranaike International Colombo Airport (CMB)28 km from centre56 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days-

By the numbers

MeasureChengduColombo
City population20,937,757647,557
People per km²1,45617,361
Museums within 10 km1010
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-12 months

Where else could you go?

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