VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
São Paulo Cathedral, Sao Paulo
Sao PauloSão Paulo Cathedral

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Sao Paulo by Webysther Nunes, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chengdu or Sao Paulo?

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
  • wellness
  • getting around

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

Choose Sao Paulo for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Sao Paulo’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, Sao Paulo 42: Sao Paulo leads by 37 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Sao Paulo 84: Chengdu leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu and Sao Paulo are level on 60.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Sao Paulo 86: Sao Paulo leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Sao Paulo 48: Chengdu leads by 20 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Sao Paulo 47: Chengdu leads by 33 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Sao Paulo 52: Chengdu leads by 13 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Sao Paulo 44: Chengdu leads by 30 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Sao Paulo 70: Sao Paulo leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Sao Paulo 62: Chengdu leads by 18 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Sao Paulo 76: Sao Paulo leads by 26 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Sao Paulo 25: Chengdu leads by 33 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Sao Paulo.

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 wellness with your weighting.

Sao Paulo
58match

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

Sao Paulo in July

23 °Cdaytime high
13 °Cnight-time low
53 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
11 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduSao Paulo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Sao Paulo: 1991-2020 normals, Sao Paulo (5.9 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduSao Paulo
Official languagePutonghuaPortuguese
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Brazilian Real (BRL)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzCN60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-3
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 190, ambulance 192, fire 193
Elevation500 m760 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsSão Paulo/Guarulhos–Governor André Franco Montoro International Airport (GRU)21 km from centre104 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days15 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduSao Paulo
City population20,937,75711,451,999
People per km²1,4567,519
Museums within 10 km1090
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00

Where else could you go?

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