« Mike Grehan blogs about his trip to Shanghai | Main | Business Cards »
December 5, 2005
Cost of living in China
Seems like a lot of people in the UK suffer from what I call "China Syndrome" (= assuming everything in China is $1), so to hopefully share some info, I thought maybe I should do a breakdown of what it costs ME to live in Shanghai per month.
Rent and Bills = £300
Taxis = £100
Communication costs = £100 (mobile, web, landline)
Chinese Lessons = £200
Food = £300 (Lunch and Dinner)
Sub Total = £1,000 ($1,730 or 14,000RMB)
The above does NOT include any entertainment costs, and these can be a lot of money, a $500 saturday night is quite possible and happens once or twice a month, the above also does NOT include travelling within China when applicable, flights to most Chinese cities are around £100 return, and a day's Car hire with driver to go visit factories etc would be around £75.
The above as I am sure you can work out is in GBP Sterling, so to get a U$ figure, simply multiply by 1.73 and to get the Chinese rate simply multiply by 14
So there ya have it, a bit too much information on my spending habits in China, but hey, I am sure it will all be worth it in the long run ;)
Posted by shak at December 5, 2005 2:38 AM
Technorati Tags
Comments
Fons
Your link above is superb, however I have to defend myself by saying the following:
a, I have no desire to be a wage slave for anyone, haven't had a job for 15 years and have no intention of getting 1 now, just so I can claim back the expenses.
b, I am living a similar lifestyle of what I would have in any major city in the world, Lonon, Paris, New York etc.
c, when all else is said and done, I feel that it's quite cheap considering the grand scheme of why I am here and what my goal is.
anyone else ?
Posted by: Shak at December 5, 2005 3:53 AM
I'm with Shak on this. And I reckon my spending pretty much lines up roughly with yours too mate. Although that also covers my wife, so I guess I'm going out less. But the rents and bills are much of a muchness.
And I've been here four years, speak a bit of the lingo and can call on a reasonable knowledge of rents, rates and all that jazz.
I think the issue is about lifestyle choices. With the work you are doing you live a certain way. You work for yourself so cannot claim things back, but also, with the people you are wine-ing and dining, how are you going to reduce your entertainment costs? Yes it is a great idea to drag those guys from Cali out to the local chew and spew every now and then, but not every night, and if you didn't spend every weekend night in Bar Rogue (it's been renamed apparently), you would quickly be perceived as out of the loop and lose your status as the thinking man's man on the ground....
So three theses:
1) There is no such thing as too much. Only too much for you.
2) It's all about perception. For example, you cannot work at Goldman Sachs and save it all. If you don't by the porsche and go to the crazily overpriced restaurants your colleagues and clients will think your wierd and you'll be out on the street in no time...
3) We all have to balance top line and bottom line. Obsess too much about saving money, and you will cut yourself off from making it. And vice versa too.
That's my 5 jiao's worth...
Posted by: Phil at December 5, 2005 8:03 AM
I'm a native.
rent 1.5k
food 1.2k
traffic 1k
network & telecom 0.3k
dogs 1k
all in RMB, not including weekend entertainments, or purchase of other gadgets.
Posted by: chawang at December 5, 2005 12:36 PM
Assuming the majority of the transportation and communication costs, and maybe half of the food costs are business related, your expenses look pretty reasonable. 2800RMB a month for Chinese lessons sounds like a lot -- you could probably hire a full time assistant/translator for that amount of money -- but if you're doing 7 hours a week of intensive learning, it should be a good investment.
My own:
Rent & Utils: 3500RMB
Transportation: 500RMB (metro during the week, taxis on the weekend)
Communication: 250RMB
Food: 1500RMB
Entertainment: whatever's left over
Posted by: Brad at December 5, 2005 12:55 PM
For November it's roughly this.(Household of 2)
Rent & Utils: 3700 Rmb
Fitness: 250 Rmb (Now if only I would go..)
Communication: 300 Rmb
Ayi (4hrs/week): 180 Rmb
Taxis: 300 Rmb (my favorite)
Other Transport: 150 Rmb
As we spend in total about 10000 Rmb I guess we have spend a bit less than half on food, some drinks, clothes, etc.
Who's next? and Shak, where is that trackback of yours?
Posted by: Gemme at December 5, 2005 5:43 PM
OK, I'll try it. I have a roommate, so we split the bills.
Rent & Utils: 3200RMB
Transportation: 200RMB (I can walk or bike most places I need to go.)
Communication: 250RMB
Food: 1000RMB
Ayi (10hrs/week): 250 Rmb
Entertainment: not much lately
TOTAL: 5000 minimum, but not more than 6000
Posted by: John at December 7, 2005 2:04 AM
I´m about to move to Shanghai with my wife.
What would be the cost of living for both??
Does anyone knows???
Thank´s all folks!
Rodrigo Ventura
venturamail@gmail.com
Posted by: Rodrigo at January 5, 2006 7:15 AM
Hi I may move to Shanghai in August. I have a wife and 2 children and have been offered a contract of 37,000 RMB a month (before tax) with housing and schools fees paid by Company. Could a family of 4 live well and save on such a salery??
Posted by: Frank at January 24, 2006 8:09 AM
could you tell me about the cost for medical, day care, schooling( public) ect. i'm trying to compare living cost and wages to american living. to find out way more and more companies are sending their business over seas.i would like to compare and average family's monthly expenses to mine.
Posted by: lori at January 29, 2006 2:54 AM