Comments on: Cost of living in Shanghai (2010)

By: Fracto

Fracto — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 16:29:20 +0000

Thanks a lot for your blog! Helped me =)

By: D.Kwan

D.Kwan — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:37:06 +0000

Hi Nana. If food, accommodation, and flight are all covered, I think you can live fairly comfortably on 4000 RMB/mo in Shanghai.

By: Nana

Nana — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 16:03:44 +0000

I’m so glad to found this page! So much of info and thanks Kwan for all the explanations. I’ve some questions here and hopefully you can help! :)

I recently got an offer from a production house, compare to what i got here in my country, the salary is much lower, but I’m looking at career opportunity here. It will be a great experience for me to work with Shanghai production crew and definitely helps when I’m back to my country.

I’ve been offered RMB4000 — however I’m provided with food, accommodation, flight tickets & validation.

Well, I don’t go to clubs or travel much as my work is gonna used up 70% of my day and the rest would be my sleep time I guess. But I think once in a while I would pamper myself with Starbucks or some good food, magazines maybe and Internet connection for me is a must.

So I’m just wondering if I can still survives at Shanghai with RMB4000 with the conditions above?

By: D.Kwan

D.Kwan — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:49:07 +0000

@James — I know a few people who are or used to be English teachers in Shanghai, but I don't think any of them intend on doing it as a career. I do know that it's not difficult to get a job as an English teacher if you're white (and "not difficult" might be an understatement), but I have no idea how it's like as a career. I'm also not sure how much English teachers get paid, except for one person who gets around 15K/mo working full-time, but has lots of free time during "office hours". I think that's pretty common but I've never really looked into it. As for whether you can go to clubs every weekend on 10K, it really just depends on what your spending habit is like when you go out. I mean it's really easy to burn threw a few hundred RMBs in one night, so in a month that could be 4000+. But the cost of drinks vary a lot too. E.g., a beer is anywhere from 15 to 60+ RMB, a cocktail is 30 to 150+ RMB, same goes for meals. I think a decent 1BR apartment would be 4000 RMB/mo at most and you can definitely find cheaper. So 10K/mo is definitely livable but I'd still recommend keeping track of where your money's going.

By: James

James — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 23:08:23 +0000

Thanks for the cost breakdown, D.Kwan.

I tutored English in HK and had a blast, and am considering doing it as a career. Starting in Shanghai seems like a good way for someone like me with no real teaching experience.

My question is — have you met any of these expats who go teach English there? Have you heard any comments on them about whether they like and/or would like to do it as a career?

More of a stretch but — I’ve seen jobs that start you at 10-14k per month and include airfare, housing and 50% paid health insurance. Any idea if I could get a better deal by flying over there myself and looking for jobs? Also — with 10k per month, could I live in a decent 1BR apartment, spend about what you do on food, and go out to clubs every weekend?

Thanks!

By: D.Kwan

D.Kwan — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 23:59:03 +0000

I think all of Shanghai is generally pretty safe. Just take the same precautions you would anywhere that's crowded, like keeping your wallet hard to reach. As for what places to stay at, there are motels all over the place. Motel 168 and Jinjiang Inn are not bad. I think most motels are around 250 RMB/night. Don't know about the hostels here. Chinese people who speak English... For younger crowds try Shanghai Stuff. (Look in the Groups section. Avoid the Forums.) Might also want to check out EnjoyShanghai's classifieds. SmartShanghai has a good article on nightlight here.

By: Neko

Neko — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 07:46:33 +0000

At times i feel like jumping on the plane and just going to Shanghai. Im Filipino/Korean and have no idea how to speak the Mandarin language. What recommendations can you provide. I will only have like 1000.00 usd for one week of stay and just want to look around and be frugal but at the same time enjoy the night life a little and talk to some chinese people who speak english. Where can i stay that is safe and cheap for 5 nights. What club scene can i check out? Any info is nice. Just wanted to get on to craigslist and do some forum chats but i thought i get your advice first.

By: D.Kwan

D.Kwan — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 01:12:15 +0000

There are definitely decent apartments for less than 5000 RMB, especially if you're willing to add 20 minutes to your commute. Check out Shanghai's metro system. It goes everywhere, and generally the further out you go, the cheaper the rent. Personally I think up to two stops outside of Line 4 (the one that goes in a circle) is an acceptable distance from downtown. That puts the ride to anywhere in downtown at around 20-30 minutes. Add 10 minutes to walk to/from the station and your total commute each way is like 40-50 minutes, which is still better than the commute where I'm from. If you or your wife can read Chinese, try this site for apartments.

By: ernie

ernie — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 22:49:41 +0000

Finally, someone that is not talking about a 5000 RMB a month western apartment, I am currently living in Nanning with my wife and have a job offer to go Shanghai for 15000 – 20000 RMB. I know that I can live quite good here for that, but do not know anything about Shanghai and my wife has a low opinion of anybody north of Guangxi. I have been looking for some information on rentals and stuff in Shanghai but everybody is talking about renting 5000 RMB luxury apartments, any suggestions?

By: AtN-

AtN- — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 04:10:31 +0000

Thank you for the answer Kwan :)

Well , I thought that “Ayi” is for the maid that do your laundry and dirty dishes , guess I was wrong then :)

My age is almost 30 and I think that earning is not sufficient enough for me and send some to my family in Indonesia :)

But I do very appreciate the glimpse of the living there from you.

Thank you very much for the answer :)