Air quality comparison · China, 1238 km apart
Chengdu vs Guangzhou Air quality index (AQI) today
Guangzhou has cleaner air than Chengdu right now: AQI 114 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 126 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Guangzhou averaged AQI 98 against 135, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Guangzhou has lost more forest since 2001. Chengdu has more tree cover.
China
AQI 126
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 45.7 µg/m³3.0× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 12, 00:00 local
China
AQI 114
Unhealthy for sensitive groups
Cleaner right now
- PM2.5
- 40.8 µg/m³2.7× WHO guideline
- Main pollutant
- PM2.5
- Source
- Ground station
- Reading
- Nov 11, 23:00 local
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Chengdu126Guangzhou114
Head to head
Chengdu vs Guangzhou at a glance
Guangzhou is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Chengdu on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Chengdu | Guangzhou | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 126 | 114 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 45.7 | 40.8 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 135 | 98 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 8 ha (better) | 30 ha |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 17.7% (better) | 17.2% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 54.2K | 51.2K (better) |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Chengdu and Guangzhou right now?
Guangzhou has cleaner air than Chengdu right now: AQI 114 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups) against 126 (Unhealthy for sensitive groups). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Chengdu's PM2.5 is about 3.0× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. Guangzhou's PM2.5 is about 2.7× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings come from nearby ground stations.
ChengduGuangzhou
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Chengdu: Ground station · Dàshí xī lù, Chengdu (成都大石西路), 4.3 km away · median of 4 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Sichuan Province Environmental Protection Agency (四川省环保重点城市环境空气质量实时监测结果), Chengdu Environmental Protection Agency (成都市环境监测中心站_成都市环境监测中心站), China National Urban air quality real-time publishing platform (全国城市空气质量实时发布平台), U.S. Consulate Chengdu Air Quality Monitor.
Guangzhou: Ground station · shì wǔ zhōng, Guangzhou (广州市五中), 1.7 km away · median of 7 stations. Data: World Air Quality Index Project, Guangdong Environmental Protection public network (广东环境保护公众网).
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Guangzhou averaged AQI 98 against 135, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Chengdu1Guangzhou5
- Average AQI
- Chengdu135Guangzhou98
- Worst day, AQI
- Chengdu169Guangzhou137
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Chengdu | Guangzhou |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 149 | 137 |
| Nov 6 | 169 | 109 |
| Nov 7 | 130 | 114 |
| Nov 8 | 91 | 101 |
| Nov 9 | 123 | 57 |
| Nov 10 | 148 | 68 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Chengdu and Guangzhou today?
Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. Both are in the same EPA band today (Unhealthy for sensitive groups), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Children, older adults and people with asthma or heart disease should cut down long or hard exercise.
Windows
Close them to keep the outside air out.
Masks
Sensitive groups: an N95 outdoors.
Air purifier
Run one, especially in bedrooms.
Against everywhere else
How do Chengdu and Guangzhou compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Chengdu's air is cleaner than 14% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Guangzhou's is cleaner than 17%. Within China, that is 33% and 42% of its 639 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Chengdu
- Beats 14%
- Guangzhou
- Beats 17%
More tree cover than…
- Chengdu
- Beats 41%
- Guangzhou
- Beats 40%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Chengdu or Guangzhou?
Guangzhou has lost more: about 30 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 8 ha around Chengdu. 26 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2005, with 2 ha lost.
Worst year: 2021, with 11 ha lost.
| Chengdu | Guangzhou | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 8 ha (better) | 30 ha |
| Share of its forestOf what it had in 2000. | 3.5% | 2.1% (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 6 ha (better) | 26 ha |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Towns and roads (69%) | Towns and roads (87%) |
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Chengdu
2017: satellite photo from July 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Guangzhou
2018: satellite photo from November 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Chengdu or Guangzhou?
Chengdu has more tree cover: 17.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 17.2% around Guangzhou, or about 55,495 trees against 49,496.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Chengdu | Guangzhou | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 55.5K (better) | 49.5K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 54.2K | 51.2K (better) |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.2M kg (better) | 1.1M kg |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Chengdu vs Guangzhou: your questions answered
Is Guangzhou cleaner than Chengdu?
On air quality, yes, right now: Guangzhou reads AQI 114 against 126, a gap of 12 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Guangzhou averaged AQI 98 against 135, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Chengdu and Guangzhou today?
The advice is the same for both today. Sensitive groups should limit long or intense outdoor activity. Chengdu reads AQI 126 and Guangzhou reads AQI 114.
Which has lost more forest, Chengdu or Guangzhou?
Guangzhou has lost more: about 30 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 8 ha around Chengdu. 26 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Chengdu or Guangzhou?
Chengdu has more tree cover: 17.7% of the land within 2 km of its center against 17.2% around Guangzhou, or about 55,495 trees against 49,496. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Chengdu and Guangzhou need?
Chengdu needs about 54,241 more to reach its canopy target of 35%, and Guangzhou about 51,223 to reach 35%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Chengdu and Guangzhou measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Both readings come from nearby ground stations. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Chengdu vs Guangzhou comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 5, 2026 and Aug 11, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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