Shanghai or Tokyo?

Neither city is a beach destination, but Tokyo at least has a real swim within reach. The Shonan coast, an hour south by train, has long dark-sand beaches at Kamakura's Yuigahama, Zushi and Enoshima, warm enough for swimming in July and August, though crowded at weekends.

Shanghai has nothing like it. Its shore is Yangtze mudflats, and the walled, filtered bay at Jinshan is an hour and a half away in an industrial setting, so in practice swimming means the hotel pool.

Both are among Asia's great cities for eating, and Shanghai would be the highlight of most trips. It has red-braised pork, soup dumplings, shengjian buns and hairy crab in autumn, plus cooking from every region of China, a range Tokyo cannot match.

Tokyo still goes further. Restaurants that have made one dish for decades, sushi and kaiseki counters at the very top level, the depachika food halls and the yakitori alleys under the Yurakucho tracks give a depth that rewards every meal, and even the convenience stores are worth eating from.

Shanghai's sights mostly tell the story of a single century: the Bund's banks facing the Lujiazui towers, and the plane-tree avenues and shikumen lanes of the former French Concession. The Shanghai Museum's bronzes and ceramics and the Ming-era Yu Garden give some older depth, but most of China's classical heritage lies outside the city.

Tokyo has more to fill a week. Senso-ji, Meiji Jingu and the Imperial Palace are spread across the city rather than grouped in an old town. Ueno Park alone, though, holds the Tokyo National Museum and the National Museum of Western Art, and modern architecture from Tange to Omotesando adds another reason to look around.

Both cities stay out late and feel safe after dark, but the style is different. Shanghai's night is about cocktails and views: speakeasies in the former French Concession and hotel bars high above the Bund looking at the lit Pudong skyline, then polished clubs or techno rooms later on.

Tokyo has the edge for variety and character. Golden Gai's two hundred tiny bars, whisky and vinyl bars stacked floor upon floor, and izakaya around every station make it easy to wander from one to the next. The last train around midnight sets the shape of the night: you either go home or stay out until dawn in Shibuya or Roppongi.

Here the gap is wide. Tokyo's railways reach real mountains: Mount Takao for a first hike about an hour west, the cedar forest and river gorges of Okutama, and the Fuji views from Hakone and the Fuji Five Lakes.

Shanghai sits on the flat Yangtze delta. Century Park, the Huangpu riverside paths and birdwatching in the Dongtan wetlands on Chongming Island are pleasant, but real hills such as Moganshan are more than a day trip away.

Both cities make an outstanding base, and the difference lies in what you go out to see. From Shanghai, high-speed trains reach the classical gardens of Suzhou in about half an hour, West Lake and the Longjing tea hills at Hangzhou in about an hour, and the old imperial capital of Nanjing soon after. Canal towns such as Zhouzhuang and Wuzhen are closer still, and together these trips cover the classical heritage the city itself lacks.

Tokyo's day trips mix temples with sea and mountains: Kamakura's Great Buddha and its hillside of Zen temples, Nikko's Toshogu shrine in cedar forest, Yokohama's harbour and the hot-spring inns of Hakone.

Both cities work well with children, and each has a Disney resort within easy reach. Shanghai adds Legoland, an ocean park and big hands-on museums, but the long distances between sights, the crowds of the national travel weeks and the humid summers tire small legs.

Tokyo makes everyday life easier. Stations have baby rooms, spotless public toilets are everywhere and the food suits fussy eaters. The Ghibli Museum and Miraikan in Odaiba are days out that children remember.

Shanghai's metro is huge, clean and signed in English, and ferries across the Huangpu make a scenic shortcut. Sights are spread across both banks of the river, though, so a trip across town often takes half an hour or more, and mobile payments need setting up before you arrive.

Tokyo is easier still. The densest rail network in the world runs to the minute, one card pays for trains, buses and shop purchases, and almost every sight is a short walk from a station through quiet backstreets. The catches are the end of service around midnight and the maze of the Shinjuku station.

Shanghai is a strong shopping city. It has luxury malls on West Nanjing Road and in Lujiazui, Chinese designer boutiques on Wukang and Anfu roads, and fabric markets that tailor a suit or qipao in days, though the souvenir lanes are full of imitation goods.

Tokyo is in another league. Beyond Ginza's department stores and Omotesando's flagship buildings, there is vintage clothing in Shimokitazawa and Harajuku, whole districts given over to anime, kitchen knives or books, and lacquer, ceramics and washi paper of real quality, all wrapped with great care.

Both cities are cheaper than their reputations if you eat as locals do, and both charge heavily for good hotels, cocktails and Western dining. Shanghai comes out a little cheaper: its dumplings, noodles and breakfast snacks cost very little, taxis are cheap and many museums are free.

In Tokyo the ramen and set lunches are bargains too, but central rooms are small and dear, taxis are expensive, and prices climb in cherry-blossom season and Golden Week.

Shanghai's classic night at the theatre is an acrobatics show. Behind that come Kunqu, Yue and Peking opera, the last at the Yifu Theatre, which dates from the 1920s, along with a symphony orchestra in its own hall and a jazz tradition that goes back to the Bund's ballrooms of the 1930s.

Tokyo's stage life runs much deeper. The Kabuki-za sells single-act tickets as an easy introduction, Noh and the Takarazuka Revue add contrast, and Suntory Hall and the NHK Symphony anchor a serious classical scene. Hundreds of small live-music venues in Shimokitazawa and Koenji host bands every night, though spoken theatre is almost all in Japanese.

In Tokyo, bathing is part of ordinary life. In Shanghai it takes some finding. Shanghai's large bath centres, with hot pools, saunas and rest halls where people stay overnight, are away from the usual visitor routes. Foot-massage parlours are on almost every residential street, though, and clinics of traditional Chinese medicine offer acupuncture and cupping. Calm comes from tea houses and tai chi in the parks.

Tokyo has hundreds of neighbourhood sento, many with a painted Mount Fuji on the wall and some drawing natural hot-spring water. Large bathing complexes add outdoor pools and a serious sauna culture, and Hakone's onsen inns are about ninety minutes away. Many baths still turn away guests with tattoos, so check before you go.