VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
Shibuya Crossing, Tokyo
TokyoShibuya Crossing

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Tokyo by Benh LIEU SONG, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Chengdu or Tokyo?

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

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

Choose Tokyo for

  • live music and the arts
  • beaches
  • shopping

What lies behind each score is written up on Tokyo’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, Tokyo 40: Tokyo leads by 35 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Tokyo 98: Tokyo leads by 12 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Tokyo 84: Tokyo leads by 24 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Tokyo 86: Tokyo leads by 18 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu and Tokyo are level on 68.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Tokyo 85: Tokyo leads by 5 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Tokyo 95: Tokyo leads by 30 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Tokyo 98: Tokyo leads by 24 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Tokyo 99: Tokyo leads by 35 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Tokyo 48: Chengdu leads by 32 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Tokyo 86: Tokyo leads by 36 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Tokyo 78: Tokyo leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Tokyo.

Your match

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

Chengdu
63match

Wins on prices with your weighting.

Tokyo
Best match
80match

Wins on live music and the arts and beaches 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

Tokyo in July

30 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
157 mmrain in the month
5 hsunshine a day
23 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduTokyo

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Tokyo: 1991-2020 normals, Tokyo (3.6 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduTokyo
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 m6 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsTokyo Haneda International Airport (HND)18 km from centre98 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days16 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduTokyo
City population20,937,75714,264,798
People per km²1,4566,501
Museums within 10 km10192
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C-4 months

Where else could you go?

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