VacationSelector
The Anshun Bridge over the Jin River, Chengdu
ChengduThe Anshun Bridge over the Jin River
Gastown, Vancouver
VancouverGastown

Photos: Chengdu by TurnOnTheNight, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped; Vancouver by Xicotencatl, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Chengdu or Vancouver?

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
  • day trips
  • nightlife

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

Choose Vancouver for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • families

What lies behind each score is written up on Vancouver’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, Vancouver 42: Vancouver leads by 37 points.
Food & drink. Chengdu 86, Vancouver 72: Chengdu leads by 14 points.
Culture & sights. Chengdu 60, Vancouver 42: Chengdu leads by 18 points.
Nightlife. Chengdu 68, Vancouver 42: Chengdu leads by 26 points.
Nature & outdoors. Chengdu 68, Vancouver 97: Vancouver leads by 29 points.
Day trips. Chengdu 80, Vancouver 45: Chengdu leads by 35 points.
Good for families. Chengdu 65, Vancouver 72: Vancouver leads by 7 points.
Getting around. Chengdu 74, Vancouver 73: Chengdu leads by 1 points.
Shopping & style. Chengdu 64, Vancouver 55: Chengdu leads by 9 points.
Affordability. Chengdu 80, Vancouver 27: Chengdu leads by 53 points.
Live music & performing arts. Chengdu 50, Vancouver 52: Vancouver leads by 2 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Chengdu 58, Vancouver 50: Chengdu leads by 8 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Chengdu and Vancouver.

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 day trips with your weighting.

Vancouver
56match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors 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

Vancouver in July

23 °Cdaytime high
15 °Cnight-time low
42 mmrain in the month
10 hsunshine a day
16 °Csea
16 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ChengduVancouver

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Chengdu: 1991-2020 normals, Chengdu (4.5 km from centre). Vancouver: 1991-2020 normals, Vancouver Harbour CS (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureChengduVancouver
Official languagePutonghuaFrench, English
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Canadian Dollar (CAD)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzAB120 V, 60 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC-8, UTC-7 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119911
Elevation500 m2 m
Main airportChengdu Shuangliu International Airport (CTU)16 km from centre77 non-stop destinationsVancouver International Airport (YVR)9 km from centre109 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureChengduVancouver
City population20,937,757662,248
People per km²1,4565,759
Museums within 10 km1026
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km00
Swim season, months above 21 °C-None

Where else could you go?

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