VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped.

Chengdu or Penang?

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

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • nightlife

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

Choose Penang for

  • beaches
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Penang’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, Penang 44: Penang leads by 39 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu and Penang are level on 86.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Penang 70: Penang leads by 10 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Penang 40: Chengdu leads by 28 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Penang 55: Chengdu leads by 13 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Penang 42: Chengdu leads by 38 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Penang 52: Chengdu leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Penang 40: Chengdu leads by 34 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Penang 42: Chengdu leads by 22 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Penang 78: Chengdu leads by 2 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Penang 30: Chengdu leads by 20 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Penang 42: Chengdu leads by 16 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Penang.

Your match

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

Chengdu
Best match
63match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

Penang
52match

Wins on beaches and 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
No seasea
14 hdaylight a day

Penang in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
189 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
30 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduPenang

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduPenang
Official languagePutonghuaMalay
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Malaysian Ringgit (MYR)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzG240 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightLeft
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+8
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119999
Elevation500 m4 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days-

By the numbers

MeasureChengduPenang
City population20,937,757794,313
People per km²1,456-
Museums within 10 km109
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 Penang 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.