VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
Shitennō-ji temple, Osaka
OsakaShitennō-ji temple

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Osaka by Sarmat Batagov, Pexels License.

Chengdu or Osaka?

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
  • nature and the outdoors

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

Choose Osaka for

  • beaches
  • families
  • day trips

What lies behind each score is written up on Osaka’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, Osaka 34: Osaka leads by 29 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Osaka 91: Osaka leads by 5 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Osaka 63: Osaka leads by 3 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Osaka 80: Osaka leads by 12 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Osaka 58: Chengdu leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Osaka 97: Osaka leads by 17 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Osaka 88: Osaka leads by 23 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Osaka 90: Osaka leads by 16 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Osaka 80: Osaka leads by 16 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Osaka 60: Chengdu leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Osaka 66: Osaka leads by 16 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Osaka 66: Osaka leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Osaka.

Your match

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

Chengdu
63match

Wins on prices and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Osaka
Best match
73match

Wins on beaches and families 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

Osaka in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
175 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
25 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduOsaka

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Osaka: 1991-2020 normals, Osaka (1.8 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduOsaka
Official languagePutonghuaJapanese
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Yen (JPY)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzAB100 V, 50 and 60 Hz depending on the region
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+9
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 110, fire 119
Elevation500 m20 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsKansai International Airport (KIX)38 km from centre62 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduOsaka
City population20,937,7572,751,862
People per km²1,45612,340
Museums within 10 km1044
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km06
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

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