Cost of living and studying in Beijing

[Ludens]

I'm trying to figure out a daily/monthly/yearly budget for living and studying in Beijing. The following average daily figures are based on my experience of being in Beijing for 5 months last year; not really living there but as part of long-term travelling:

57块 daily (rent; 1700 monthly)

40块 daily (food, etc)

71块 daily (study; private, 10 hours weekly; 50块 per hour)

10块 daily (public transport)

27块 daily (parties/bands, incl. taxi)

10块 daily (other expenses)

= 215块 daily = 6450块 weekly = 78475块 yearly.

Do you think this budget is reasonable, according to your experience? I'm looking to live in Beijing as cheap as possible while still having fun (I know this is all highly subjective). Are there any points I'm forgetting, or things that could be cheaper?

6450块 seems quite high to me for a monthly budget of living in Beijing. What do you think could be considerably cheaper when living in a second-tier city?

[jkhsu]

40块 daily (food, etc)

10块 daily (public transport)

These two expenses seem pretty variable to me. I mean taking a single taxi would go over your daily transportation amount and depending on where you go, the subways can get expensive after a while. 40块 for food a day? Are you doing the food stands and small noodle shops for every meal?

Edit: Ok, I assumed you were eating out. If you are cooking, this is doable.

[abcdefg]

Are there any points I'm forgetting...?

Apartment rent usually does not include utilities (gas, water, electricity) and internet. You might also want to plan for drinking water to be delivered. If you are living in a shared dorm room, these considerations may not apply.

In doing advance estimating like this, I've always found it best to budget a little on the high side and then later be pleasantly surprised. If you budget bare bones, as low as the actual expenses could possibly ever be, you may have trouble when things cost a little more than you had hoped.

[gato]

The following average daily figures are based on my experience of being in Beijing for 5 months last year; not really living there but as part of long-term travelling:

Do you think this budget is reasonable, according to your experience?

Everybody's spending habits differ. Since you just spent 5 months in Beijing, you are probably in a better position to know whether those numbers are reasonable for you.

[imron]

6450块 seems quite high to me for a monthly budget of living in Beijing.

That's because it's a living and studying budget. If it was just living, then I would agree it seems a little high, but take out the studying component, and it's not an unreasonable monthly living budget.

[jbradfor]

71块 daily (study; private, 10 hours weekly; 50块 per hour)

Do you already have a tutor at this rate? I have no personal experience, but most people here seem to be reporting a significantly higher rate.

[Ludens]

Thanks for replying, everyone!

Jkhsu: I don't normally use taxi's, I mostly go by bike and bus/subway. I would be both cooking and eating out, but trying to avoid going to expensive restaurants too much.

Abcdefg: I've already tried to budget on the high side, but I'm not quite sure if I'm remembering my exact expenses correctly. I figured renting a room would be feasible for 1700 all inclusive (1500 for the rent, 200 for the rest)?

Jbradfor: When I was in Beijing last year, I went to a private school for this price. They have now closed doors however. On the beijinger website there seem to be a good number of people advertising for this rate, but I'm not sure about their teaching qualities of course.

I was secretly hoping to be able to cut this budget somewhere on the biggest expenses, since I'm low on cash and high on motivation. Does any of you have any tips for lowering this budget? Or are these housing (not looking for a room/apartment, not a dorm), food and study prices already the bare minimum? And if so, would this change considerably by choosing to go to a cheaper city?

Thanks again!

[jkhsu]

Actually i think you can do it for less than what you've estimated. My suggestions:

1 Try to find the best deal on rent. That's your biggest expense.

2 Try not to eat out too often.

3 If you can bike or walk for most of the week you would save on most of your transportation costs.

4 The 27 块 for parties per day starts adding up. If you can cut that down, you'd save a lot.

I know for a fact that locals can live for really cheap, many can live on only a few thousand RMB a month. It's all about cutting down on unnecessary expenses.

[roddy]

How are you planning on handling your visa? I'm not sure what the current state of play is, but I'd expect sorting out visas for a one-year stay where you don't have an official employer or place of study to cost at least a few thousand yuan in visa runs or visa agency fees.

[jbradfor]

Does any of you have any tips for lowering this budget?

Find a roommate.

Attend group classes.

[Ludens]

The costs of visa (runs) are a good point. I was under the impression that with 10 hours of classes a week I would be able to get a student visa for one year. Am I mistaken?

Find a roommate. Attend group classes.

I was already counting on getting a room instead of an apartment. Do you think this could this be cheaper than the above mentioned 1700块 (including internet, etc.)?

Group classes don't really appeal to me, so that's one thing I don't want to compromise, although I could consider getting less hours.

[imron]

Do you think this could this be cheaper than the above mentioned 1700块 (including internet, etc.)?

Depends on where you live and what sort of conditions you can put up with. For Beijing this is already at the low-end (albeit the high-end of the low-end) with respect to what foreigners are usually willing to put up with.

I was under the impression that with 10 hours of classes a week I would be able to get a student visa for one year. Am I mistaken?

If you are having a private teacher (i.e. not going through a school) I don't expect you'll be able to get a student visa. If it is through a school, you will need to speak to them to see what sort of visa they recommend you to get.

[roddy]

Very few if any private schools can get you a one year student visa, and I wouldn't be surprised if 10 hours a week is too little (or they expect you to pay extra for the visa). You're more likely to end up on a combination of tourist and business visas and doing some extensions / visa runs. Trouble with trying to budget for this is that circumstances may well change over the year.

What do you think could be considerably cheaper when living in a second-tier city?

Everything, basically. Plus, there'd be fewer temptations to break the budget.

[jkhsu]

You're more likely to end up on a combination of tourist and business visas and doing some extensions / visa runs.

Can you explain this in more detail? Visa runs? Do you mean reapplying while in China or taking trips outside of China?

[jbradfor]

It's what you do when you have multiple-entry visa.

Say you have a 1-year validity, 60 day stay, multiple-entry visa. Every 60 days you leave China and then come back in, resetting your 60 days. At the end of a the year, your visa is no longer valid, so you need to get a new visa.

[roddy]

Or you've got a three month tourist visa overseas, done two one-month extensions in Beijing (you can't extend a tourist visa more than twice in China) and so you go to Hong Kong to get a new 1 month tourist visa (the maximum in HK, I believe) then you come back to Beijing and get another two one-month extensions. That gives you a total of eight months, but you've had to apply for visas or extensions 6 times, plus pay for a trip to Hong Kong and whatever the visa fees were.

[greenarcher]

I spent roughly 80-100RMB/day excluding rent. This includes practically everything including a bit of shopping on the side.

[Ludens]

Or you've got a three month tourist visa overseas, done two one-month extensions in Beijing (you can't extend a tourist visa more than twice in China) and so you go to Hong Kong to get a new 1 month tourist visa (the maximum in HK, I believe) then you come back to Beijing and get another two one-month extensions. That gives you a total of eight months, but you've had to apply for visas or extensions 6 times, plus pay for a trip to Hong Kong and whatever the visa fees were.

Are you sure it's impossible to get a 3 month visa in Hong Kong? So far I've only applied for 3 month visa's in Japan, Holland and India, and received the full 3 months each time. What about Mongolia, is it possible/easy to get 3 months there?

Also, what would be the cheapest way to get a 1 year student visa? If 10 hours a week at a private school won't do, what will?

Due to my nationality I don't believe a 1 year multiple entry visa is a possibility.

[roddy]

I could be out of date, by all means check.

[jkhsu]

This forum is amazing. I post, drive to work, log back in and questions answered. I just wanted to confirm that "visa runs" meant leaving the country. At the time, I had a one year multiple entry visa with a 60 day stay. I ended up making trips to Hong Kong and South Korea but those were for pleasure so it worked out for me. It seems like the OP has quite a bit of experience in this area. I was actually wondering if there were easier ways myself.