| 1 |
Living Cost in Shanghai (2007 Edition) Cost of living is always a question of how much you want to localise yourself. To live exactly the same lifestyle in Houston (central a/c, breakfast cereal, steaks, SUV) while in Shanghai will actually cost more than it would back in Houston. Some companies will pay for that to be possible, although for shorter and shorter periods of time these days. I think it is realistic to expect that living costs during the first six months in Shanghai are going to be high before you assimilate -- from spending money in expensive tourist-friendly places, to expat places, and then moving on to semi-local places. Once you break out of your comfort zone, moving into a decentralised area beyond the first ringroad is cheap once you are prepared to accept: 1) being outside the delivery area of the English speaking food hotlines 2) finding your housing through a real estate agent using Chinese only 3) no foreigner-oriented supermarkets or restaurants 4) zero English spoken. My first six months I was staying in Xujiahui paying RMB 4000 a month and later relocated to a 1600/mo 1br place 1km north of the Inner ring, same floor area. Commuting time to People's square from here compared to from Xujiahui is identical. Post-2001, foreigners can inhabit the cheap housing blocks once considered off-limits by law. Common housing blocks (普通公寓) look worse on the outside, but paying double or triple the rent for high quality exterior finish, fancier guards, and laundry-free windows in the 花园 (compound style) gets you an interior fit-out that is no different. An enormous savings comes about if you speak (and read) Chinese, opening up cheaper food joints, shopping places, and riding the bus lines, as viable options, saving thousands of yuan per month. If every meal is limited to places that offer English speaking staff or servers (or Japanese or Korean), the price skyrockets and WJS's cost of living estimate would need to be quadrupled. |