VacationSelector
The Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower, Shanghai
ShanghaiThe Oriental Pearl Tower and Shanghai Tower
The beach promenade in Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv
Tel AvivThe beach promenade in Tel Aviv

Photos: Shanghai by xiquinhosilva, CC BY 2.0, cropped; Tel Aviv by israeltourism, CC BY-SA 2.0, cropped.

Shanghai or Tel Aviv?

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

  • prices
  • shopping
  • getting around

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

Choose Tel Aviv for

  • beaches
  • nature and the outdoors
  • live music and the arts

What lies behind each score is written up on Tel Aviv’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, Tel Aviv 86: Tel Aviv leads by 76 points.
Food & drink. Shanghai 88, Tel Aviv 80: Shanghai leads by 8 points.
Culture & sights. Shanghai 72, Tel Aviv 57: Shanghai leads by 15 points.
Nightlife. Shanghai 80, Tel Aviv 82: Tel Aviv leads by 2 points.
Nature & outdoors. Shanghai 25, Tel Aviv 52: Tel Aviv leads by 27 points.
Day trips. Shanghai 90, Tel Aviv 84: Shanghai leads by 6 points.
Good for families. Shanghai 80, Tel Aviv 68: Shanghai leads by 12 points.
Getting around. Shanghai 85, Tel Aviv 64: Shanghai leads by 21 points.
Shopping & style. Shanghai 82, Tel Aviv 55: Shanghai leads by 27 points.
Affordability. Shanghai 55, Tel Aviv 14: Shanghai leads by 41 points.
Live music & performing arts. Shanghai 66, Tel Aviv 70: Tel Aviv leads by 4 points.
Wellness & relaxation. Shanghai 55, Tel Aviv 35: Shanghai leads by 20 points.
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What lies behind each score is written up on the two cities’ own pages: Shanghai and Tel Aviv.

Your match

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

Shanghai
Best match
66match

Wins on prices and shopping with your weighting.

Tel Aviv
62match

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

Tel Aviv in July

32 °Cdaytime high
22 °Cnight-time low
0 mmrain in the month
No recordsunshine a day
27 °Csea
14 hdaylight a day

Daytime high, °C

0°10°20°30°40°JFMAMJJASOND

Rainfall in the month, mm

050100150200250JFMAMJJASOND
ShanghaiTel Aviv

Temperature and rainfall are climate normals, averaged over the years shown. Shanghai: 1991-2020 normals, Shanghai / Hongqiao (8.1 km from centre). Tel Aviv: 1991-2020 normals, Bet Dagan (9.5 km from centre).

Before you go

MeasureShanghaiTel Aviv
Official languagePutonghuaHebrew
CurrencyYuan Renminbi (CNY)New Israeli Sheqel (ILS)
SocketsACI220 V, 50 HzCHM230 V, 50 Hz
Driving sideRightRight
Time zoneUTC+8UTC+2, UTC+3 in summer
Emergency numberPolice 110, ambulance 120, fire 119Police 100, fire 102
Elevation4 m5 m
Main airportShanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG)33 km from centre207 non-stop destinationsBen Gurion International Airport (TLV)13 km from centre111 non-stop destinations
Public holidays this year6 days-

By the numbers

MeasureShanghaiTel Aviv
City population24,870,895467,875
People per km²3,9228,998
Museums within 10 km4598
UNESCO World Heritage sites within 50 km02
Swim season, months above 21 °C5 months7 months

Where else could you go?

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