VacationSelector
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower
The Cap Spartel lighthouse among palms, Tangier
TangierThe Cap Spartel lighthouse among palms

Photos: Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Tangier by Ideophagous, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.

Shanghai or Tangier?

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 Shanghai for

  • nightlife
  • families
  • getting around

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

Choose Tangier for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • prices

What lies behind each score is written up on Tangier’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. Shanghai 10, Tangier 50: Tangier leads by 40 points.
Food & drink. Shanghai 88, Tangier 58: Shanghai leads by 30 points.
Culture & sights. Shanghai 72, Tangier 57: Shanghai leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Shanghai 80, Tangier 30: Shanghai leads by 50 points.
Nature & outdoors. Shanghai 25, Tangier 55: Tangier leads by 30 points.
Day trips. Shanghai 90, Tangier 72: Shanghai leads by 18 points.
Good for families. Shanghai 80, Tangier 35: Shanghai leads by 45 points.
Getting around. Shanghai 85, Tangier 40: Shanghai leads by 45 points.
Shopping & style. Shanghai 82, Tangier 42: Shanghai leads by 40 points.
Affordability. Shanghai 55, Tangier 76: Tangier leads by 21 points.
Live music & performing arts. Shanghai 66, Tangier 28: Shanghai leads by 38 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Shanghai 55, Tangier 50: Shanghai leads by 5 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Shanghai and Tangier.

Your match

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

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on nightlife and families with your weighting.

Tangier
49match

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.

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

Tangier in July

29 °Cdaytime high
19 °Cnight-time low
1 mmrain in the month
12 hsunshine a day
22 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ShanghaiTangier

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre). Tangier: 1991-2020 normals, Tanger Aerodrome (9.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureShanghaiTangier
Official languagePutonghuaArabic, Standard Moroccan Tamazight
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)Moroccan Dirham (MAD)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzCE50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+1
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 19/112, ambulance 15, fire 15
Elevation4 m56 m
Main airportShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinationsTangier Ibn Battuta Airport (TNG)11 km from centre50 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days11 days

By the numbers

MeasureShanghaiTangier
City population24,870,8951,275,428
People per km²3,9226,393
Museums within 10 km456
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km01
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months3 months

Where else could you go?

Every comparison below shares a destination with this one, so you can follow Shanghai or Tangier 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). 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 2026-11-01. Daily budgets are estimates from country price levels.