Expenditures in Beijing/Shanghai

[Harvey]

I fear this questions has been asked before, but my searches weren't serving me well tonight.

Could someone break down the expected MONTHLY expenses for living as a student in China in terms of...

FOOD:

RENT:

TRANSPORTATION:

Entertainment:

Just those categories. If you could give me the HIGH range as in the person who eats out everyday cuase they can't cook, lives in "nice" housing cause they are picky, and doesn't buy a bike so takes taxi's and trains everywhere... vs the slightly frugal studnet who cooks, rents a cheap place, and tries to avoid taxi's at the least?

Just looking for MAX and AVG numbers in each category.

Thinking about how to finance my escape.

As for locale, think Beijing or Shanghai

Regards!

- Harvey

[pixienomad]

Hi there, I checked the lonely planet yesterday and it said that if you eat at street stalls or make your own, sleep in the cheapest hostels and don't travel you can live of 15 dollars a day. That's like super shoe string. Then it goes up to 3 star hotels.

Taxis are more expensive than trains and busses or bicycle (obviously).

I have to stress that I haven't been in Beijing yet, so Check out the Lonelyplanet.com website if you need to know more details. They give costs for restaurants too. Some places charge up to 6 dollars for a bowl of soup or a coffee, whereas down the road at the friendly soup vendors', it's a fraction of that. Same for hotels.

So it really depends on how you'd like to travel, what conveniences you like and what compromises you're preapared to make.

I hope this helps a little

love

PN

[Lu]

I only know some answers for Beijing.

Food: if eating out, breakfast is 2 or 3 yuan, lunch and dinner both around 20 yuan (unless you eat out in expensive places). You can't cook for yourself cheaper than this.

Transport: bus is typically 1 kuai, 2 or 3 yuan for longer distances. Taxis start at 10 yuan. Subway is 2 yuan (or was it 3?) for one of the lines, 5 if you have to change trains to or from the north line. You won't need trains if you stay in the city. A bike can be bought for about 150 yuan, but you need a good lock if you want to keep it.

Entertainment: depends on what you do, you can spend 1000 yuan in clubs if you want, but if you buy two draft beer at a bar that won't cost more than 20 yuan. And if you buy some bottles of beer at a xiaomaibu and drink them sitting in the park with friends, that'll be like 5 yuan.

Rent I don't know, I've never rented a place in Beijing.

Good luck with the escape!

[gougou]

My experience in Beijing so far (as far as I can guess, I am not much of a budgeting kind of person...)

RENT: RMB 1800. A spacious apartment, completely furnished. It is, however, Chinese style, meaning the shower consists of two holes (one near the ceiling, where the water comes out, and one in the ground, where the water would go in if it didn't happen to be the most elevated spot of the whole bathroom) and the kitchen seems a bit like a field kitchen. Personally, I love it, but I don't know just how picky you are.

FOOD: As Lu said, go with about 20 kuai a meal. When cooking (that is to say, burning) my own food, I pay around the same.

TRANSPORTATION: Depends on where you live, really. Close to a subway station on one of the two central lines, 3 yuan will get you pretty much anywhere of importance. Interchanging to the lines serving the outskirts in the east or north costs 4 or 5 kuai, respectively.

Taxis do start at 10 kuai, but because Beijing is huge, expect to pay more than that on most trips.

ENTERTAINMENT: I'd again go with Lu's answer here, you can find something for any budget you might set yourself...

Note, though, that none of these are MAX numbers; there are no MAX numbers in Beijing, really...

[roddy]

Some numbers that will allow you more luxury . . .

Nicer, better furnished flat (although not necessarily larger) say 2500-3000Y a month.

Food, if you go for a pizza / pasta / sandwich meal in a cafe, then I guess you would spend 25-35Y, with your drink costing you 10-15Y on top.

Transport - As above, just depends how often you choose taxis over public transport. I've developed a bad taxi habit, and some days could take a cab 4 times at an average of 15Y a ride. I take the subway when it's handy, but rarely get the bus now (used to take it all the time, not sure why I stopped)

Entertainment - Sky's the limit, as said. 40Y cokes in a hotel cocktail bar, or beer on the street for a fraction of that.

It's possible to live extremely cheaply even in places like Beijing and Shanghai. The trouble is there are so many more temptations to spend your money on - only so many bowls of noodles you can have before that pizza restaurant starts to look mighty attractive . . .

Roddy

[Harvey]

How much do regular clubs cost, that say college kids hang out at?

How much does a good bike lock cost?

Thanks for these tips guys.

How about how much would a cell phone cost,

and a subscription to an internet provider?

Simple question.... are Kuai Yuan the same thing?

"DOR CHIEN!?" "YI BAI KUAI!" ohhh thanks.

[liuzhou]

Kuai is to Yuan as Buck is to Dollar or Quid is to Pound. But much more commom. My English mother would never say quid - too slangy, but my Chinese mother-in-law would use kuai all the time.

[Harvey]

Exchange rate is like 8 YUAN to the dollar right.

So a cray expensive 50 Yuan meal is like 6 bucks?

[roddy]

50Y is about 6 bucks, yes, but while it's not the cheapest, it is hardly crazy expensive either - the more expensive meals I've been for in Beijing have come in at about 250-300Y for two - that's at a quality Western or Chinese restaurant. Possible to spend much much more still though.

Roddy

[Harvey]

Thanks!

How about these?

How about how much would a cell phone cost,

and a subscription to an internet provider?

I'm sure they will be a regular expense for me...

[Harvey]

Assuming life as a BLCU student... Are these estimates sane?

Spending Per Month

Food Avg: ¥2,000.00 US$247.18

Food Max: ¥3,000.00 US$370.77

Rent Avg: ¥1,800.00 US$222.46

Rent Max: ¥3,000.00 US$370.77

Transportation Avg: ¥600.00 US$74.15

Transportation Max: ¥1,500.00 US$185.39

Entertainment Avg: ¥2,000.00 US$247.18

Entertainment Max: ¥10,000.00 US$1,235.91

Utilities (Net) Avg: ¥100.00 US$12.36

Utilities (Net) Avg: ¥200.00 US$24.72

Utilities (Phone) ???

Could anyone give me the range of their usual cell phone bill assuming local calls to friends for one month?

Thanks for tips on this!

[Harvey]

I heard this about phones.

"depends on how you use it.. for me, it varies from RMB250~500 (US$30~60).. "

"I think you need minimum 200RMB per month. Considering how many international calls you have, it can go up to 500-1000RMB."

[roddy]

I probably get through 100Y a month on the mobile, with 140Y a month for the fixed line rental / broadband. I'm quite a light user though.

I think your average figures are pretty accurate for Beijing. I wouldn't know about Shanghai but I'd be surprised if it's a great deal different. Rent figure might be a little low if you want a nice place on your own, but should be ok for a nice shared place.

Roddy

[Harvey]

Cell and Land line, in Japan often we have only cell phones, and never get a land line into the apartment. What is it like in China? Are both necessary? In Japan the land lines are so expensive, that it's not much different from having just a cell phone.

just realized how absolute I sound there. "never" means, we dont always have a land line. Tons of people do... but more and more singles in apartments dont.

[Harvey]

Question! How much for health insurnace in China?

Is it something that it's recommended one get when planning to be in China for 1 year or more?

[roddy]

I pay 120Y a month for the basic unlimited ADSL service, with about 25Y line rental I think. Whatever, it comes to about 140Y a month.

Cellphones cost as much as you want them to. How much do you want them to cost? You could pick up an old second-hand model for next to nothing, or you can spend 4000Y or more on the latest gadget.

Roddy

[gougou]

When using the search function, you'll find that there is some information on insurance here and there.