The cost of living in china is one of the reasons I chose to come teach here. In most cases you can live quite a lavish life whiles earning an average salary. Sadly though when taking the money back home in most cases it won’t be worth much. Luckily for South Africans (like me) whatever we take home is basically doubled and as such provides us with a nice opportunity to save for the future.
For the exchange rate check out: CoinMill
As an ESL teacher some of the most common expenses you could find yourself faced with are:
Housing and Utilities
In most cases ESL teachers do not have to pay rent, as this is covered by their school. The only thing the teacher will have to pay for is his/her utility bills (water and lights), Internet Connection, Cable TV and in the colder provinces central heating.
These expenses are roughly:
- Utility bills: 200¥-350¥ Per month (in some cases schools pay for this fee as well)
- Internet Connection: 900¥-1100¥ Per Year (Foreigners have to pay once off for their internet connection)
- Cable TV: 900¥-1100¥ Per Year (Foreigners have to pay once off for their Cable connection)
Food and Drinks
The costs of food and drinks can vary depending on your preferences. If you prefer eating western food (i.e. western takeout and western themed restaurants) you will be spending a considerably large amount of your income on it. Here are some examples of how much you could expect to be spending:
- Average takeout meal ( Mc Donald’s, Burgher King, etc): 25¥-30¥
- Meal at Western themed restaurant: 50¥-150¥
The second choice that you will have when it comes to food is of course eating at Chinese restaurants. Here you would be spending about 10¥-25 ¥ per meal and the food is normally quite good. The only problem I have experienced is that the menus are often in Chinese without any pictures.
The third option you have is buying groceries and cooking your own food. Now I don’t have anything against this but I have found that eating at Chinese restaurants works out much more affordable than this. Depending on how much you eat your monthly groceries should work out to about 700¥ -1500¥ per month.
Both alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks in China are very cheap. However as with food it depends where you buy these drinks. Some examples of how much you could expect to be paying includes:
- 600ml Soda: 3¥
- 2L Soda: 7¥
- 1.5L bottle of water: 3¥-5¥
- 1L Milk: 13¥
- Large Coffee: 20¥-30¥
- 1L Iced Tea: 5¥
- 330ml Fruit Juice: 3.50¥
- 1L Fruit Juice: 7¥-10¥
- Local 600ml Beer (not at western bar): 5¥-8¥
- Local 500ml Beer (at western bar):20¥-35¥
- Imported 330ml Beer (not at a western bar 20¥-30¥)
- Imported 500ml Beer (at a western bar 50¥-80¥)
- Imported Spirits 750ml: 90¥-300¥
- Local Spirits 750ml: 50¥-150¥
- Ginjo (Chinese Red Spirit) 10¥-30¥
- Baijiu (Chinese white spirit): 8-¥-50¥
Transport
Transport in China is very inexpensive and in most cases very efficient. A breakdown of what the various modes of transport would cost you are:
- Taxi (depending on distance travelled) : 8¥-50¥
- Bus (depending on City): 1¥-2¥ to any destination
- Subway: 2¥-4¥ to any destination
Clothing
The prices for clothing and apparel varies quite considerably. Buying from local clothing shops can save you quite a bit of money, but at the same time you may struggle to find your size.
The other option is buying at an international clothing chain such as H&M, Zara, Blue Navy, Etc. Here it will be a lot easier to find your size, but the prices will be the same if not more expensive than home.
*Note: I have not added prices as they tend to vary from area to area*
Miscellaneous
Some other general expenses include:
- Cigarettes: 6.50¥-40¥
- Sweets: 1¥-20¥
- Gym Membership: 1100¥-3000¥ (per year)
- Haircut: 30¥-50¥
- Foot Massage: 90¥
- Full Body Massage: 110¥-250¥
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