Working & the cost of living in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing & Tibet?

Question

Hey, does anyone know the costs of living as a traveller in various areas of China. Such things as accomodation, food, travelling costs as a comparison. I've looked for a breakdown in US Dollars but am unable to find anything. Also, my partner and I are interested in working in China but wanted to know how the work schemes are implimented.

Answer 1

The Cost of Living Shanghai and Beijing are pretty much the same. Hong Kong is more expensive and Tibet is less expensive. I don't know the exact numbers on Hongkong and Tibet. But here is the breakdown on Beijing and Shanghai. (My family lives in Shanghai a few months every year and I myself travel to Beijing quite often.)

I took the freedom and converted the currency into US$ for you.

Accomodation(utilities not included) :
1 bedroom apartment $100/month unfurnished; $140 furnished
2 bedroom apartment $150/month unfurnished; $200+ furnished
These are average values. As westerners, I don't know if you can be used to the way average Chinese would live. But these give you a ball park number.

Food (Assume you eat out every meal with good food, at the same time not wasting money going to 5 star hotels to eat):
Breakfast: $1/person
Lunch: $3/person
Dinner: $4/person

Travelling:
Depending where you go, but let's take Beijing to Shanghai one way as an example.
By train
- $30 (Sleeping Section)
- $15 (Sitting Section: I don't even know if they still have a sitting section for that route now, I've always got sleeping ticket where you get on in the night, sleep, then wake up, you are there.)
By Plane - $150

As for working, there are a lot of working opportunities in Beijing, Shanghai, and Hongkong. However, you are not going to find anything in Tibet, trust me, don't bother. I have Tibetan friends, they all go away from Tibet to find work.

To work in Hongkong, I think it's pretty easy (others, please correct me if I'm wrong.) From what I heard, as long as you get hire, you work. That's different in Beijing and Shanghai, or any other part of China. Whoever decides to hire you have to issue some documents so you can apply for working visa in China. However, having someone agreed to hire you don't mean you will get the visa to work in China. Why and how, I don't know. Sometimes, it's just luck.

Anyway, good luck with whatever do you... and if you do go to China, have a great time. And if you are in Shanghai someday while my family is there too, I can certainly show you some good and cheap places to eat...

Cheers

Answer 2

I prefer Hong Kong to Shanghai and Beijing Shanghai is a much more modern city, and a much more western city. Shanghai nearly rivals Hong Kong in modern flair, and it is certainly true that like in Hong Kong, you could chose to live an almost truly western lifestyle in Shanghai if you had the money to do so and chose to. Shanghai citizens are more upwardly mobile in their thinking, dress, and style, and big business is a primary thought and motivation. A higher percentage of westerners in Shanghai will have jobs in international business with real salaries from abroad than Beijing where a higher percentage of westerners are English teachers or students learning Chinese on Chinese salaries or limited budget from home. Beijing is more conservative, more traditional, it is relatively poorer (but not poor) than Shanghai. Where in Shanghai business is the keyword, in Beijing government and universities hold more of the limelight. A higher percentage of westerners you will meet in Beijing will be English teachers or students studying Chinese as opposed to business people with higher paying jobs with western salaries. Hong Kong has more FUN, in my opinion, than any spot on the Mainland. The culture is freer and more cosmopolitan. It is also fairly Westernized. There are people from every country on Earth there. Go to Victoria Peak and you'll hear cell phone conversations in ten languages while walking around. People from most developed countries also don't require an expensive visa to go there. -Michael

Answer 3

From most western perspectives, initially everything is viewed as being inexpensive or cheaper. Compared to most western prices and cost of living standards - this is true. Comparing a Chinese wage to the costs of living; unit for unit almost everything is more expensive. Bottom line, when in China - do as the Chinese do.. Haggle for prices in the market.. Look around before you buy.. And be prepared to walk away if you feel the price is too high.. You will find that a merchant is sometimes willing to negotiate lower after you walk away. Sometimes just being a foreigner will send the price of goods soaring.

If you want alot of good information about avg. salaries for teaching in china, cost of living, tax information, visit this web link. http://journeyeast.org/financial_considerations.htm

Have fund in China!

Answer 4

I am in Nanjing China. It is located 300 kilometers west of Shanghai. Here is what I pay ( prices are in RMB : 1000 RMB = 128.32 USD )
- appartment : 60 square meters fully equipped : washing machine, sofa, king size bed, large TV, bicycle locker room, table and chairs, lots of place to put my stuff : 1500 RMB
- internet fees every month : 150 RMB for a mega ADSL connection
- water : every 2 months 30 RMB
- electricity : every 2 months 100 RMB
- gaz : every 2 months 60 RMB
- taxi starts at 8 RMB / Shanghai 15 RMB
- bus 1RMB or 2 RMB if equiped with air conditionnar
- food : 1 RMB for breakfast, and if alone count 10 to 20 RMB for lunch + dinner. If you go to a restaurant with friends 150 RMB ( 6 bears and 6 dishes ).
- train Nanjing - Shanghai : 75 RMB.

Answer 5

I can offer you a website to check it.
http://knows.jongo.com it says its encyclopedia of China.
by the way if you have any questions you can also ask questions at http://ask.jongo.com to get serious answers.

all the best in China

Answer 6

i dont know
china is pretty cheap but hong kong is very exspensive.