Tokyo or Beijing?

Neither city is worth choosing for the sea. Beijing hardly has a swimming option at all: the nearest coast is Beidaihe, two hours away by fast train, where the water is grey and shallow, so in practice swimming means a pool.

Tokyo at least offers a proper summer afternoon at the beach. The dark volcanic sand of Kamakura, Zushi and Enoshima is about an hour south by train, and Sagami Bay is warm in July and August, though weekends there are packed.

Beijing eats well. Roast duck is carved at the table, the northern kitchen is built on wheat noodles, dumplings and cumin lamb, and the capital has excellent Sichuan, Yunnan and Xinjiang cooking brought in from the provinces. Breakfast is jianbing from a street stall.

Tokyo goes deeper still. Many places have spent decades perfecting one dish, from a soba counter in a station corridor up to kaiseki, and the depachika halls and the alleys under the tracks at Yurakucho are meals in themselves. Drink is the clearest gap: Tokyo takes sake, whisky and coffee seriously, while in Beijing tea leads and the rest trails.

Beijing has the stronger heritage because its imperial plan survived. The Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Drum and Bell Towers still line up along the old north-south axis. The palace halls, the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace and the Lama Temple are historic buildings on their original sites, even where fire or war led to restoration. The hutongs and the National Museum's Chinese antiquities add depth. The catch is distance, since each major sight takes up most of a morning.

Tokyo lost most of its old fabric in the 1923 earthquake and the bombing of 1945, so Senso-ji and Meiji Jingu are rebuilt and scattered across a modern city. Its strength is the museums: Ueno Park alone holds the largest collection of Japanese art anywhere. The modern architecture, from Tange's gymnasium to Omotesando, is worth seeing for its own sake.

Beijing's night out is split across distant districts. Sanlitun has the clubs and taprooms, Gulou has small courtyard and rooftop bars, and Houhai is neon and karaoke for tourists. A taxi ride usually separates one from the next.

Tokyo is the stronger city after dark, and much more intimate. Golden Gai's alleys hold about two hundred bars that each seat a handful of people, izakaya cluster round every station, and Shibuya and Roppongi run club nights until the first morning trains. The last train around midnight sets the pace: you either head home or stay out until dawn.

Beijing has one outstanding outing: hiking the wild, unrestored Great Wall between watchtowers on the Yanshan ridges. Beyond that there are the Fragrant Hills in autumn and skiing at Yanqing in winter, though dust, summer humidity and smog can spoil the views.

Tokyo has more to offer and more reliable conditions. Mount Takao and the Okutama gorges are within easy reach, and Hakone and the Fuji Five Lakes add views of Fuji. Its city parks are at their best in cherry-blossom season and in the November colours.

Both cities are excellent bases, but the trips differ. Beijing's revolve around the empire: the Great Wall at Mutianyu or along the steep ridges of Jinshanling, the Ming and Qing tombs, and Chengde's summer palace and Tibetan-style temples. The Wall usually means a hired driver.

From Tokyo the outings are mostly by train to temple towns and hot springs. Kamakura has its Great Buddha and Zen temples, Nikko has the gilded Toshogu shrine in cedar forest, and Hakone has its lakes and inns. Old merchant streets such as Kawagoe give quieter days out.

Beijing has real draws for children: the giant pandas and the aquarium beside them, Universal Beijing Resort and the hands-on science museum near the Olympic Park. Local people are warm towards children and the streets are safe. Even so, the vast sights, the crowds in Chinese school vacations, harsh summers and winters and uneven air quality make a family trip hard work.

Tokyo makes it far easier. Ueno Zoo, several aquariums and the character and toy shops of Akihabara and Ikebukuro fill the days around Disney. Everyday details carry the most weight: baby rooms in stations, food that suits fussy eaters, and trains calm enough that local children ride them alone. The real strains are rush-hour crowds and the July and August heat.

Beijing's metro is huge, cheap and signposted in English, but the city's ring-road scale works against it. Changing lines can mean long walks underground, every station has bag screening, and moving between two sights often takes most of an hour. Away from the hutongs, the wide avenues make walking slow.

Tokyo is close to effortless. The rail network is dense and punctual, one card pays for everything, and most sights are a short walk from a station through quiet backstreets. Its only real catches are crammed rush hours and the midnight cut-off.

In Beijing the markets are the reason to shop. Panjiayuan has antiques and plenty of reproductions, Liulichang sells brushes and paper, and Dashilar has tea and cloth shoes. The malls at Guomao and Sanlitun carry familiar international brands, and independent fashion is thin.

Tokyo is in another league, and it is deep in every direction. Ginza has the department stores, Harajuku and Shimokitazawa have vintage and independent labels, Kappabashi sells kitchen knives and Jimbocho is full of bookshops. There are also craft shops selling lacquer, ceramics and indigo textiles, and careful gift-wrapping comes with every purchase.

Beijing makes money last longer. The metro and taxis are cheap, local noodle and dumpling meals cost little, and even the Forbidden City charges modest entry. Costs only climb with international hotels, famous duck restaurants and private drivers.

Tokyo's food is a bargain too, especially set lunches and convenience-store meals. The difference is the room: central hotels are small and expensive, and prices jump in cherry-blossom season and Golden Week. Taxis also add up quickly.

Beijing's highlight is Peking opera, staged nightly in old guild halls in short, subtitled programmes. Acrobatics shows need no language, the egg-shaped National Centre for the Performing Arts hosts ballet and orchestras, and small rock and folk venues gather around Gulou.

Tokyo offers more on almost every front. Kabuki-za sells single-act tickets, and there are Noh theatres and the Takarazuka Revue as well. Suntory Hall and the NHK Symphony anchor a strong classical scene, and jazz listening bars and hundreds of live houses in Koenji and Shimokitazawa have bands on every night.

Beijing's ways to unwind are hands-on: tuina and foot massage open late, cupping at medicine clinics, and round-the-clock bathhouses that few visitors find. Watching tai chi at dawn in the Temple of Heaven is calming, but traffic and air quality cut against all of it.

Tokyo is built into a bathing culture. Neighbourhood sento sometimes draw on dark hot-spring water, saunas are taken seriously, and the onsen inns of Hakone are about ninety minutes away. The formal gardens give you quiet in the middle of the city, though many baths still turn away guests with tattoos.