VacationSelector
Kek Lok Si temple on the hillside, Penang
PenangKek Lok Si temple on the hillside
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Penang by Supanut Arunoprayote, CC BY 4.0, cropped; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Penang or Shanghai?

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 Penang for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • day trips
  • getting around
  • nightlife

What lies behind each score is written up on Shanghai’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. Penang 44, Shanghai 10: Penang leads by 34 points.
Food & drink. Penang 86, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 2 points.
Culture & sights. Penang 70, Shanghai 72: Shanghai leads by 2 points.
Nightlife. Penang 40, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 40 points.
Nature & outdoors. Penang 55, Shanghai 25: Penang leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Penang 42, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 48 points.
Good for families. Penang 52, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 28 points.
Getting around. Penang 40, Shanghai 85: Shanghai leads by 45 points.
Shopping & style. Penang 42, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 40 points.
Affordability. Penang 78, Shanghai 55: Penang leads by 23 points.
Live music & performing arts. Penang 30, Shanghai 66: Shanghai leads by 36 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Penang 42, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 13 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Penang and Shanghai.

Your match

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

Penang
52match

Wins on beaches and nature and the outdoors with your weighting.

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on day trips and getting around with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

Pick your month. The climate figures are measured averages, not a forecast.

Penang in July

32 °Cdaytime high
25 °Cnight-time low
189 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
30 °Csea
12 hdaylight a day

Shanghai in July

33 °Cdaytime high
26 °Cnight-time low
151 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
26 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0100200300400JFMAMJJASOND
PenangShanghai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Penang: 1991-2020 normals, Penang / Bayan Lepas (14.5 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePenangShanghai
Official languageMalayPutonghua
CurrencyMalaysian Ringgit (MYR)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsG240 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideLeftRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+8
Emergency number999Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation4 m4 m
Main airportPenang International Airport (PEN)14 km from centre32 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-6 days

By the numbers

MeasurePenangShanghai
City population794,31324,870,895
People per km²-3,922
Museums within 10 km945
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C12 months5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Penang or Shanghai 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. Sea surface temperature from NOAA OISST v2.1, NOAA Physical Sciences Laboratory. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.