VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
The old Hokkaido Government Office and its flower beds, Sapporo
SapporoThe old Hokkaido Government Office and its flower beds

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Sapporo by Feri88, CC BY 3.0, cropped.

Chengdu or Sapporo?

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

  • culture and sights
  • prices
  • day trips

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

Choose Sapporo for

  • beaches
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Sapporo’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, Sapporo 28: Sapporo leads by 23 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Sapporo 80: Chengdu leads by 6 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Sapporo 40: Chengdu leads by 20 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Sapporo 62: Chengdu leads by 6 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Sapporo 86: Sapporo leads by 18 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Sapporo 64: Chengdu leads by 16 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Sapporo 72: Sapporo leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Sapporo 80: Sapporo leads by 6 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Sapporo 58: Chengdu leads by 6 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Sapporo 60: Chengdu leads by 20 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Sapporo 44: Chengdu leads by 6 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Sapporo 80: Sapporo leads by 22 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Sapporo.

Your match

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

Too close to call, level with your weighting

Chengdu
63match

Wins on culture and sights and prices with your weighting.

Sapporo
63match

Wins on beaches and wellness 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

Sapporo in July

25 °Cdaytime high
18 °Cnight-time low
91 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
19 °Csea
15 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

-10°0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduSapporo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Sapporo: 1991-2020 normals, Sapporo (2.2 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduSapporo
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 m5 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsNew Chitose Airport (CTS)42 km from centre42 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduSapporo
City population20,937,7571,959,313
People per km²1,4561,747
Museums within 10 km1033
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C-1 month

Where else could you go?

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