Rent
Budget at least 1500/month for your own 2 or 3 bedroom apartment. Be advised: Most Chinese would view 1500+ a month for rent as not an insignificant amount of money. Chinese who would rent at that price are in the minority. Many are in the 1000 RMB/month bracket, often because they're low-wage earners or saving for a house. Don't let landlords take you for a ride just because the rents seem low by the standards in your home country. If you're paying, say, 2500+ a month, you should be getting a pretty decent place, incl. all appliances, in a central location. Don't be quick to accept any old apartment for a high price. If the apartment is a 老房子 i.e., an old place in an old area, you should be paying somewhere around <1500 RMB/month max. For those with generous rent allowances, it's still useful to know about rent prices and that if you're paying 5-10K/month for rent, your landlord had better be treating you well.
If your company holds the lease and you get a housing allowance, they'll probably pay the first 3 months rent (but not the deposit). If you have the lease directly with the landlord, you would need to pay 3 months rent + deposit before you move in. If you live in a managed estate, you might also be required to pay a quarterly security fee and elevator fee. It could be a hundred and something yuan a quarter, but you can negotiate this when you sign a lease.
Bus travel
Fixed 1 or 2 RMB anywhere. So negligible cost.
Taxi
Between 8-15 RMB around the city center up to 25-30RMB to city outskirts
Electricity
Around 100RMB/2 months for a single person. If you're up around 300RMB/person for electricity, you're using a lot.
Water
approx. 50-60RMB/3 months for a single person
Gas
Same as water, approx. 50RMB/3 months for a single person if you have piped gas.
Train tickets
To Shanghai 160RMB one way; to Nanjing 65RMB one way; to Beijing about 430RMB one way, 6 hours. Many other destinations from Hefei. The G bullet train is a good way to travel to Beijing. It is very smooth and comfortable and allows you to see the Chinese landscape. Another advantage of train travel is the flexibility of ticketing. i.e., if you miss the train, it's usually quite easy to just get a new ticket and jump on the next train. Plane ticketing is much less flexible. Also be aware that you need your passport to purchase train tickets.
Plane tickets
to Shanghai cheap 250RMB, expensive 500RMB; many other destinations from Hefei. However, Nanjing airport is also a very convenient feeder airport to Hefei city also.
To/from airport
Hefei airport is about 45min-1hour outside the city. There is a regular shuttle-bus service which costs 25RMB one way. A taxi to/from Hefei will cost about 100-120RMB one way. There is no English service or schedule information that will help you with the shuttle bus.
Internet
50RMB/month for 2Mbps
Groceries
This would vary quite a bit. You can live very cheaply if you are determined; however, China is not a place to skimp on food. Take full advantage of the amazing food culture in China.
- Fruit and vegetables are generally dirt cheap, whether you buy them at the supermarket or market. Green vegetables usually 0.5-
2RMB/500g. Apples
around 3-7RMB/500g. All kinds of fruits are available depending on the season.
- Fish and beef are generally the most valued kind of meat here followed by chicken, duck, and pork. Lamb is mostly associated with the
poor frontier regions of China and is not generally eaten except as 羊肉汤 lamb soup + noodles. Many other forms of seafood and meat
are eaten, incl. crayfish, prawns/shrimp, squid, and pigs trotters. In Hefei, crayfish are the specialty food, generally eaten outside at the
restaurant and not at home. Costs about 50RMB for half kilo. 500g of beef might cost 20-40RMB and a medium fish might be similar. A
big fish can cost 100+RMB.
- Yoghurt and milk are freely available, but cheese or butter are not common. You can get these at Metro and Carrefour though. A carton of
milk or yoghurt is about 20RMB.
- China also does not have a real tradition of bakeries. Real Western bread is not easy to get. In the past, some bakeries have opened selling
proper breads etc. but they don't last very long because Chinese don't buy it. There are many small cake/sweetbread shops that sell little
bread products and cakes etc. but they're nothing like a real western bakery.
- The most comprehensive place for imported foods, breads, cheese, wines and spirits etc. is Metro Supermarket.
- small blocks of chocolate are common, but not large 500g or 1kg blocks available in Western countries. Dove and Herschey's are popular
brands. Can get Lindt and Ferrero also. A small 25g block of Dover is about 25rmb.
For a single person living alone who is disciplined about saving money, you could budget about 2000-2500RMB/month for food and groceries. Of course, you could spend much more or live on a shoestring, but it's worthwhile budgeting a little higher to factor in eating out a few times a week, buying good food, and socializing etc. Many Chinese eat at restaurants at least once a week.
Bicycle
You can pick up a cheap one for about 300-500RMB, a good new one for maybe 3000+RMB. There are now many good shops where you can buy mountain bikes and road bikes. Prices can be pretty expensive if your a serious enthusiast. i.e., 15,000RMB But if you get an apartment close to your workplace you can save money on travel.
Clothes/shoes
Compared to other centers in China, relatively expensive in Hefei. Roughly, same price as you would pay in Europe. But there are cheap shops also. You can find everything at any price. And you can also use internet shopping, like Taobao, to buy stuff. It depends how much you shop around. A number of large malls have opened up recently. There is now H&M, UNIQlo, GAP, Nike, ZARA, Adidas, Levis, MetersBonwe, Just Jeans as well as a range of other big Chinese chain stores. You can expect to find the same range of clothes and shoes as in a Western country for similar prices. Many high-end luxury brands also have a presence in Hefei: Gucci, Prada, YSL, Dunhill, Chanel, Cartier, Rolex etc. etc.
Beer/alcohol
A 6 pack of Chinese beer is about 25RMB. Bottle of bad Chinese red wine 30-80RMB, imported wine and spirits 100+ RMB. Imported wine has become much more available and affordable in recent years, and there is a greater range of such wines at the budget end of the scale (i.e., 80-100RMB) that rival the Chinese wines in price but are better quality. Imported beer is also very common in Chinese supermarkets, 500ml tins, many German brands, range from 9-15RMB. At the bar, you can expect to pay about 25-30 RMB for an average beer or 50-60RMB for a craft beer. In the Chinese night clubs, expect to pay 50RMB for a standard beer. Western spirits are not difficult to get at Metro and Carrefour, but generally speaking, they are not as widely available as imported beer because Chinese don't really drink them. Baijiu has the overwhelming share of the spirits market in China.
Coffee
Starbucks, UBS, Habitat, Costa: around RMB30/cup
85 Degrees Cafe Chain: RMB15
Startup costs
My advice: Don't come over skint. It will magnify any little annoyances you have (which there inevitably are living in a country as different as China). I suggest at least US$1000 in reserve. You will have some initial costs:
1. Initial hotel stay. If your school doesn't provide on-campus accommodation, you will need to stay in a hotel for perhaps a week while a
suitable apartment can be found for you. You should insist that your school pay for this because it is incentive for them to find you a
suitable place quickly. But you might still
need to pay some. Minimum cost of a hotel is 160RMB/night.
2. health examination: about 400RMB
3. residence permit: this is about 400RMB now for 1 year. But if you keep your receipt, most employers will reimburse this.
4. rental deposit (if you are living off campus): one month rent, I recommend no more than 2000RMB. You can negotiate with the
landlord. Your employer will not pay this.
5. China SIM card will cost about 60RMB
6. household items: You can build this up over time, but immediately you would need utensils and some crockery, a kettle, wok,
saucepan, and bedding
(blanket, sheet set). I would budget about 500RMB for the basics.
7. Internet and TV. You may want to get the internet connected straight away. For a cheap plan, that might cost 1500RMB/2 years. Your
landlord might also need you to pay to get a TV set-top box. Could be a couple of hundred yuan to get TV set up.
Also, in many Chinese workplaces, it is quite normal to have to wait more than a month for your first paycheck (usually 6 weeks). So be prepared for this.
Once you're set up, Hefei is quite inexpensive.
Author
Topic: real present living costs/food costs in August 2012 (Read 9810 times)