Cost of Living in China
- Teach English in China on a Shoestring

First, let's put things in perspective. Foreign teachers salaries generally start at 4 times what a local Chinese teacher would earn. These people have families, homes, cars - inspiring when you think that you should be able to save money while working in China.

Second, let's be clear. You have to barter, bargain, negotiate, whatever, you have to do it. When you go to a hotel, ask for their special rate, if you live in the city and you let them know that they will give you a discount to win your business back. That doesn't even matter, they will always give you a discount if you ask. They expect you to ask. Same applies in markets, in shops, pretty much everywhere but supermarkets.

When buying anything, first ask the price. The real price value is usually somewhere between the price they told you and slightly less than half that price. I usually start my bargaining around 40% and end around there or around 50%.

In restaurants, bring your trusty calculator with you, when you order a dish, ask what each dish costs. You would be amazed how sometimes the prices go up if you don't ask (but only sometimes).

The cost of living varies greatly within China, but will generally be far lower than any place in the developed West. Even in Beijing and Shanghai, China’s two most expensive cities, it’s possible to survive on a very thin budget. That being said, it is easy to cut costs and live inexpensively IF and this is a big IF, ... if you can live like a Chinese person.

Inexpensive noodle and dumpling houses make excellent meal options, and you can save greatly by buying clothes and goods in the numerous Chinese markets. Check out the prices of a standard fare menu in a Chinese restaurant - click here.

Meals, in the cheaper but decent value range, cost around 5-10 RMB. Ordinary clothes costs between 25-50 RMB. You can go way up in both categories but those are base benchmarks.

If you subscribe ot the BigMac index (meaning comparing the cost of living situation based on how much a BigMac costs in your home country as opposed to what it costs in a foreign country) a BigMac in China will cost around 8-11 RMB.

In a small to medium sized city, a barebones budget would be 1,000 RMB a month. Unless your school pays for most of your meals, you may find yourself living a rather spartan existence on that amount of money. 1,500 RMB a month affords you a little more luxury and the occasional night out on the town. 2,000 RMB to 3,000 RMB essentially assures you an extravagant lifestyle of good restaurants, fancy bars, and regular shopping. These price estimates should be multiplied by one and a half for life in bigger cities. Fortunately, jobs in those places also tend to pay more so you may not feel much of a difference at all.

If you chose to live in a "Western" world in China, you are going to find China to be expensive, especially in the major metropolitan centers where they have 5 star hotels and loads of very wealthy investors, import/exporters, dignitaries and business people who think nothing of $40 mains in restaurants and $100 bottles of wine. I can live happily on $40 for dinner in Chinese style restaurants for 2 weeks. I once took 14 people out for dinner on $40 (not including the grog).

It is important to not that basic food like meat, fruits, vegetables and beer is cheap in a supermarket. It is difficult if not impossible to find good bread, cheese, sausages that we come to expect and take for granted in the West.

Travel can be very reasonably priced in China provided you’re willing to rough it a little. Long-distance buses are usually cramped and often very slow. Trains are not always perfectly reliable, either. Nonetheless, both methods allow you to bond with your fellow travelers and see the countryside.

In sum, China will seem cheap to your home country. Most teaching jobs in China should allow you to save and/or travel a little, especially if you go easy on expensive Western goods that eat up your budget!