VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
The skyline and the Rocky Mountains over City Park and Ferril Lake, Denver
DenverThe skyline and the Rocky Mountains over City Park and Ferril Lake

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Denver by Zenhaus, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chengdu or Denver?

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

  • prices
  • getting around
  • food and drink

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

Choose Denver for

  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Denver’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 and Denver are level on 5.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Denver 54: Chengdu leads by 32 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Denver 44: Chengdu leads by 16 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Denver 47: Chengdu leads by 21 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Denver 84: Denver leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Denver 57: Chengdu leads by 23 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Denver 67: Denver leads by 2 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Denver 40: Chengdu leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Denver 44: Chengdu leads by 20 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Denver 36: Chengdu leads by 44 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Denver 66: Denver leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Denver 40: Chengdu leads by 18 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Denver.

Your match

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

Chengdu
Best match
63match

Wins on prices and getting around with your weighting.

Denver
49match

Wins on nature and the outdoors and live music and the arts 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

Denver in July

32 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
55 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduDenver

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Denver: 1991-2020 normals, Denver / Stapleton International, Co. (11.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduDenver
Official languagePutonghua-
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-7, UTC-6 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119911
Elevation500 m1,609 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsDenver International Airport (DEN)30 km from centre231 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduDenver
City population20,937,757715,522
People per km²1,4561,783
Museums within 10 km1026
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 Denver 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.