VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License.

Chengdu or Philadelphia?

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
  • wellness
  • food and drink

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

Choose Philadelphia for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • culture and sights

What lies behind each score is written up on Philadelphia’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, Philadelphia 36: Philadelphia leads by 31 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Philadelphia 62: Chengdu leads by 24 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Philadelphia 55: Chengdu leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Philadelphia 52: Chengdu leads by 16 points.
Day trips. Chengdu and Philadelphia are level on 80.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Philadelphia 68: Philadelphia leads by 3 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Philadelphia 66: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Philadelphia 57: Chengdu leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Philadelphia 40: Chengdu leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Philadelphia 72: Philadelphia leads by 22 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Philadelphia 26: Chengdu leads by 32 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Philadelphia.

Your match

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

Chengdu
Best match
63match

Wins on prices and wellness with your weighting.

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on beaches and 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

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduPhiladelphia

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduPhiladelphia
Official languagePutonghua-
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)US Dollar (USD)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-5, UTC-4 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119911
Elevation500 m12 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days12 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduPhiladelphia
City population20,937,7571,603,797
People per km²1,4564,339
Museums within 10 km1054
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01

Where else could you go?

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