VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
The Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower, Johannesburg
JohannesburgThe Johannesburg skyline and the Hillbrow Tower

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Johannesburg by K, Pexels License.

Chengdu or Johannesburg?

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
  • wellness
  • food and drink

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

Choose Johannesburg for

  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Johannesburg’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 Johannesburg are level on 5.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Johannesburg 58: Chengdu leads by 28 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Johannesburg 56: Chengdu leads by 4 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Johannesburg 62: Chengdu leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Johannesburg 55: Chengdu leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Johannesburg 52: Chengdu leads by 28 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Johannesburg 42: Chengdu leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Johannesburg 18: Chengdu leads by 56 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Johannesburg 58: Chengdu leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Johannesburg 72: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Johannesburg 55: Johannesburg leads by 5 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Johannesburg 28: Chengdu leads by 30 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Johannesburg.

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 wellness with your weighting.

Johannesburg
47match

Wins on 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

Johannesburg in July

19 °Cdaytime high
4 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
9 hsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduJohannesburg

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Johannesburg: 2005-2019 (sunshine 1991-2020, rainfall 1991-2020) normals, Johannesburg B / Roosevelt Park (7.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduJohannesburg
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 m1,753 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsO.R. Tambo International Airport (JNB)22 km from centre84 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days13 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduJohannesburg
City population20,937,7574,803,262
People per km²1,4562,922
Museums within 10 km1014
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Chengdu or Johannesburg 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.