VacationSelector
The skyline over the Schuylkill, Philadelphia
PhiladelphiaThe skyline over the Schuylkill
The Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky, Xi'an
Xi'anThe Bell Tower of Xi'an under a blue sky

Photos: Philadelphia by Trev W. Adams, Pexels License; Xi'an by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Philadelphia or Xi'an?

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 Philadelphia for

  • beaches
  • live music and the arts
  • families

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

Choose Xi'an for

  • prices
  • wellness
  • nature and the outdoors

What lies behind each score is written up on Xi'an’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. Philadelphia 36, Xi'an 4: Philadelphia leads by 32 points.
Food & drink. Philadelphia 62, Xi'an 70: Xi'an leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Philadelphia 72, Xi'an 81: Xi'an leads by 9 points.
Nightlife. Philadelphia 55, Xi'an 42: Philadelphia leads by 13 points.
Nature & outdoors. Philadelphia 52, Xi'an 62: Xi'an leads by 10 points.
Day trips. Philadelphia and Xi'an are level on 80.
Good for families. Philadelphia 68, Xi'an 48: Philadelphia leads by 20 points.
Getting around. Philadelphia and Xi'an are level on 66.
Shopping & style. Philadelphia 57, Xi'an 50: Philadelphia leads by 7 points.
Affordability. Philadelphia 40, Xi'an 80: Xi'an leads by 40 points.
Live music & performing arts. Philadelphia 72, Xi'an 40: Philadelphia leads by 32 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Philadelphia 26, Xi'an 40: Xi'an leads by 14 points.
0255075100

What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Philadelphia and Xi'an.

Your match

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

Too close to call, 2 points apart

Philadelphia
57match

Wins on beaches and live music and the arts with your weighting.

Xi'an
55match

Wins on prices 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.

Philadelphia in July

31 °Cdaytime high
21 °Cnight-time low
111 mmrain in the month
8 hsunshine a day
15 hdaylight a day

Xi'an in July

33 °Cdaytime high
23 °Cnight-time low
96 mmrain in the month
6 hsunshine a day
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

0255075100125JFMAMJJASOND
PhiladelphiaXi'an

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Philadelphia: 1991-2020 normals, Philadelphia International Airport (11.3 km from centre). Xi'an: 1991-2020 normals, Xi'An (4.4 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasurePhiladelphiaXi'an
Official language-Putonghua
CurrencyUS Dollar (USD)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsAB120 V, 60 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC-5, UTC-4 in summerUTC+8
Emergency number911Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation12 m405 m
Main airportPhiladelphia International Airport (PHL)11 km from centre129 non-stop destinationsXi'an Xianyang International Airport (XIY)26 km from centre178 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year12 days6 days

By the numbers

MeasurePhiladelphiaXi'an
City population1,603,79712,952,907
People per km²4,3391,283
Museums within 10 km549
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km12

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Philadelphia or Xi'an 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 2026-10-31. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.