VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
Durban

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

Chengdu or Durban?

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 Durban for

  • beaches

What lies behind each score is written up on Durban’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, Durban 80: Durban leads by 75 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Durban 60: Chengdu leads by 26 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Durban 38: Chengdu leads by 22 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Durban 40: Chengdu leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu and Durban are level on 68.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Durban 38: Chengdu leads by 42 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Durban 60: Chengdu leads by 5 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Durban 20: Chengdu leads by 54 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Durban 42: Chengdu leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Durban 72: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Durban 40: Chengdu leads by 10 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Durban 30: Chengdu leads by 28 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Durban.

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.

Durban
49match

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

Durban in July

23 °Cdaytime high
11 °Cnight-time low
44 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
22 °Csea
10 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduDurban

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Durban: 1991-2020 normals, Durban, Durban International Airport (14.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduDurban
Official languagePutonghuaEnglish, Zulu, Xhosa, Afrikaans, Venda, Northern Sotho, Swazi, Tswana, Tsonga, Sesotho, Southern Ndebele, South African Sign Language
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Rand (ZAR)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzCMN230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+2
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119112
Elevation500 m22 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsKing Shaka International Airport (DUR)29 km from centre13 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduDurban
City population20,937,757595,061
People per km²1,4562,634
Museums within 10 km101
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
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 Durban 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.