New Members Pachelbel Posted February 11, 2015 at 08:45 AM New Members Report Posted February 11, 2015 at 08:45 AM Hi all, Am relocating to Foshan Nanhai from Singapore. Seek your advice on the following: (1) What is the living expenses of an average middle class couple? Assuming weekends home cook, 1 day a week out for leisure such as movies, decent restaurant meals. (2) If the living expenses are too high, might encourage my wife to take up a job. What is the average salary of an admin staff or personal secretary? (3) What is the rental cost of the following location (looking at various options), assume floor area of about 900 sq feet with 2 bedrooms : (A) Foshan Nanhai city area (B) Foshan Chan Cheng city area (4) Am looking to hire a personal chauffeur as I was told stories of locals claiming payments after "set-up" accidents. A local chauffeur might help to manage such situations. What's the average salary of a personal chauffeur? (5) Any recommendations on places to go for the following activities in Foshan or even Guangzhou?: (A) Massage (B) Hypermart (for middle class, not high end haha) © Vegetarian or organic food restarants (wife is a vegetarian) (D) Sight seeing sites (6) Looking forward to build a network of friends and business contacts. Any expats or business groups you may recommend to join? (7) In Singapore, there is a Central Provident Fund where individual employee and his/her employer will contribute for the employee's retirement. This is compulsory contribution by law. Is there such scheme in China and particularly Foshan? In addition, do share any pointers about living in China in general. Sorry for the lengthy questions and deeply appreciate advice or comments of any sort. Thanks! Cheers, pac Quote
Simon_CH Posted February 11, 2015 at 11:37 AM Report Posted February 11, 2015 at 11:37 AM Just a short reply pac, you might want to tell us what your standard of living is in Singapore so that people can give you qualified answers. People the world over have vastly different concepts of a 'middle class life'. Additionally many of your questions seem to indicate that you don't know China very well. Chances are your wife will earn less in a general admin position than you spend on groceries (middle class / foreign food). Quote
New Members Pachelbel Posted February 11, 2015 at 01:13 PM Author New Members Report Posted February 11, 2015 at 01:13 PM Hi Simon, Thanks for your reply. Yes I am new to China. Maybe we can ignore the Middle class tag, as it will require some defining. In general, home cook during weekdays. Simple dishes. Likely mainly veg and fruits as wife is vegetarian. One weekend day maybe go out for a meal and movie. Welcome any advice. Thanks. Quote
zhouhaochen Posted February 12, 2015 at 02:42 AM Report Posted February 12, 2015 at 02:42 AM I lived in Foshan for half a year about six years ago, so my information is a bit outdated. Nanhai is a bit from the city centre, so I have never actually been there. With the new subway line into Guangzhou, a lot of people rent apartments in Guangzhou and shuttle to Foshan (takes about an hour). Getting a driver because of the risk of people stating accidents does not really make sense, if there is an accident with your driver, you will still be liable to pay whatever damage there is. Also, unless things changed a lot, this is not a serious problem - during the last few years the Singaporean mindset seems to have turned very anti china, so I would take any information coming from there with quite a bit of scepticism. For apartments, if you want international quality, as a very rought guide, you will be paying about 70% of what you would pay in Singapore. Salaries differ a lot, so there is no average I can provide. A secretary will often not earn a lot in China though - more specialized skills are better paid. Sight seeing wise, Foshan is not that exciting (it has a lot of history, but this has all been torn down). Guangzhou has a bit more, but most people I knew went to Hong Kong for the weekend. That said, Foshan was the only city in China where I ever heard of a crime problem, especially just before Chinese New Year. Like any other place in China, I felt very safe in Guangzhou, but in Foshan I knew several people who had been robbed. Quote
New Members Pachelbel Posted February 12, 2015 at 06:46 AM Author New Members Report Posted February 12, 2015 at 06:46 AM Hi zhouhaochen, Thanks for your advice. They are certainly very good pointers! Regards, pac Quote
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