VacationSelector
A madrasa and its minarets on the Registan, Samarkand
SamarkandA madrasa and its minarets on the Registan
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower

Photos: Samarkand by Yaşar Başkurt, Pexels License; Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped.

Samarkand 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 Samarkand for

  • prices
  • nature and the outdoors
  • culture and sights

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

Choose Shanghai for

  • nightlife
  • families
  • live music and the arts

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. Samarkand 4, Shanghai 10: Shanghai leads by 6 points.
Food & drink. Samarkand 54, Shanghai 88: Shanghai leads by 34 points.
Culture & sights. Samarkand 84, Shanghai 72: Samarkand leads by 12 points.
Nightlife. Samarkand 14, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 66 points.
Nature & outdoors. Samarkand 40, Shanghai 25: Samarkand leads by 15 points.
Day trips. Samarkand 72, Shanghai 90: Shanghai leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Samarkand 30, Shanghai 80: Shanghai leads by 50 points.
Getting around. Samarkand 58, Shanghai 85: Shanghai leads by 27 points.
Shopping & style. Samarkand 42, Shanghai 82: Shanghai leads by 40 points.
Affordability. Samarkand 80, Shanghai 55: Samarkand leads by 25 points.
Live music & performing arts. Samarkand 24, Shanghai 66: Shanghai leads by 42 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Samarkand 32, Shanghai 55: Shanghai leads by 23 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Samarkand and Shanghai.

Your match

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

Samarkand
45match

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

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on nightlife and families with your weighting.

What matters to you?

When should you go?

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

Samarkand in July

34 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
2 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
No seasea
15 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

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
SamarkandShanghai

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Samarkand: 1991-2020 normals, Samarkand (10 km from centre). Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureSamarkandShanghai
Official languageUzbekPutonghua
CurrencyUzbekistan Sum (UZS)Yuan Renminbi (CNY)
SocketsCFI220 V, 50 HzACI220 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+5UTC+8
Emergency number112Police 110, ambulance 120, fire 119
Elevation702 m4 m
Main airportSamarkand International Airport (SKD)5 km from centre29 non-stop destinationsShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year-6 days

By the numbers

MeasureSamarkandShanghai
City population546,30324,870,895
People per km²5,0583,922
Museums within 10 km1145
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km10
Swim season, months above 21 °C-5 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Samarkand 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. Airport data from OurAirports (public domain). 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. Public holidays from Nager.Date (MIT). Exchange rates via Frankfurter, based on European Central Bank reference rates. 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.