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Q: Are China's living costs lower than in your country?
Many foreigners wrote on different posts that living costs are very low in China.
I'm curious to know how people can reach such result.
If I take into account, the average revenu in my country, the daily cost of living, etc..., I still find the cost of living the same or quite the same as China.
Much cheaper here in china, taking the salaries they pay for western people
i look at my life here , if i didnt chase too many women or travel , pay credit card bills back home, i would be putting 10k us in savings. in new jersey i worked like a dog just to break even
Way cheaper with the exception of buying a house or a car... Everythying else though is hella cheap.
Good question, I have been here for 4 years and i can say it is easy to live, but if you start to buy toys, it can be no cheaper than your country. I am talking DSLR camers etc. I have saved money here because I am not constantly putting my hand in my pocket like I did in Australia. The trouble I have now, is what will I do when I go back??
As far as I can see, people can enjoy their life here pretty well providing that
a) they get a expat salary
b) they don't have a family
c) only one person is working
I mentioned in my question to take the average revenue with the daily costs :
in China an average salary reaches RMB 4000, what can you do with these 4000 yuan (rental fees, gas, electricity, phone bill, grocery.....and why not an airplane ticket for your holidays)
Back to your country, what can you do with 4000 dollars (in US), 4000 pounds (in UK), 4000 euros (in most part of Europe).
The cost of living is far, far less than what it is in Canada, particularly in western China. Of course, I make a lot less here, but my standard of living is generally higher (in terms of how much I can save and spend on luxury, percentage-wise).
Drink some beer, go to a restaurant once a week, buy food to cook.
Go overseas for a holiday, pay my mobile phone costs, drink a bottle of Chinese wine a week.
Watch unlimited number of downloaded movies, buy a guitar, buy a bike.
Take a train ride, use taxis in the rain, take a bus.
I can do that and still I save 4000RMB a month minimum!
Ask me this question again once I find a Chinese GF!!
Back home I lived well because I was paid 10 times what I am paid here, but things cost 5 to 8 times as much. Beer in China is the cheapest I have come across in any other country.
When I was out of work in my country my current monthly salary here in China is just a few dollars more than I got on the JobSearch Allowance and you CANNOT live on that in Australia!!
most of the time, chinese pay foreigners more than as chinese who are on the same educated or skillful level. thatz why u guys think the prices are cheaper but many chinese are complaining it!
BA from usa vs PHD from china please teachers dont walk out of the classroom so we could cheat, teachers dont ask us to sit an exam for another student , teachers dont tell us to get out thesis from the net. for the most part we earned our degrees. same education and skill level my left ..........
sophiemars:
come on , not every one of us does those things plz , n surely not every one of u guys learns hard blablabla....why u have to judge chinese from a limited perspective!! n the truth is just being an english teacher here u earn much more than so many other teachers teaching chinese or other subjects! dont tell me itz becoz ur english skill, itz not even a skill to u ok!!
crimochina:
sophie: where ever you are a degree does not equate to intelligence or knowledge. but in usa more likely than not you must earn your degree because the institution and teachers work very hard to root out cheaters. here in china the schools allow students to pay to change their grade, close to 50% of my students attempted to cheat. posters are everywhere for students to get answers for finals . that would never happen in the usa. I havent even gotten into the teaching strategies. in the usa you must show that you can apply the information in different situations and you can manipulate the information . here you just need to pass a multiple choice exam. sophie : i love you but you are wrong on this one now come back to bed ;)
crimochina:
by the way i did not say everyone. 2 the reason they need foreign teachers has more to do with teaching methods and knowledge of english. chinese teachers are slow to adopt to new and different teaching methods with regard to teaching language. exhibit A : cet4
sophiemars:
just one point i totally agree with u , cet 4,6 are stupid !
really depends on what you do i bought a car and its double here than it is in the us to play golf its 5 times higher in china so i suppose it depends on what you like to do
