VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
Santo Domingo church behind agaves, Oaxaca
OaxacaSanto Domingo church behind agaves

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Oaxaca by Öskr Rck, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped.

Chengdu or Oaxaca?

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

  • nightlife
  • families
  • getting around

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

Choose Oaxaca for

  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Oaxaca’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 Oaxaca are level on 5.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Oaxaca 84: Chengdu leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Oaxaca 74: Oaxaca leads by 14 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Oaxaca 40: Chengdu leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Oaxaca 62: Chengdu leads by 6 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Oaxaca 65: Chengdu leads by 15 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Oaxaca 40: Chengdu leads by 25 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Oaxaca 55: Chengdu leads by 19 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Oaxaca 62: Chengdu leads by 2 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Oaxaca 77: Chengdu leads by 3 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Oaxaca 38: Chengdu leads by 12 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Oaxaca 50: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Oaxaca.

Your match

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

Chengdu
Best match
63match

Wins on nightlife and families with your weighting.

Oaxaca
54match

Wins on culture and sights 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

Oaxaca in July

28 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
80 mmrain in the month
7 hsunshine a day
13 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduOaxaca

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Oaxaca: 1961-1990 normals, Oaxaca, Oax. (1.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduOaxaca
Official languagePutonghuaSpanish, Nahuatl, Yucatec Maya
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Mexican Peso (MXN)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzAB127 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-6
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119911
Elevation500 m1,555 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsXoxocotlán International Airport (OAX)7 km from centre14 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days9 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduOaxaca
City population20,937,757258,913
People per km²1,4563,028
Museums within 10 km1010
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 Oaxaca 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.