| Shanghai isn't cheap. I am a former expat in NYC and a current expat in Shanghai (I'm Canadian). A night out at a nice restaurant in NYC would be around $20-70USD per person depending on what cuisine you choose. In Shanghai, it would cost you about 150RMB ($18 USD) to 500RMB ($60 USD). How do I compare this? We ate at Frankie and Johnnie's steakhouse (http://frankieandjohnnies.com/) in NYC last week and we all had a glass of wine and desert. The bill came out to be about $70 a person for the best steak you can get in the world. A few days ago, I had steak with a glass of wine (without desert) at Moons (at Xintiandi) and the bill came out to be 400 RMB ($40 USD). The steak wasn't even aged top grade beef! In NY, I could get whatever type of steak I want... ie ribeye or porterhouse. If you mention porterhouse to the steak places here, they would give you a blank stare! The price difference for quality isn't that big if you want to compare apples to apples. As metioned above in other postings, average salary in NYC is 3000-5000USD. In Shanghai, it is 2000-5000RMB. If I was making USD in NYC, I could afford to eat out more often than if I was making RMB in Shanghai. |
Life in New York is Tough for Me