| Cost of living | |
|---|---|
| Feb 1, 2009 17:23 |   |
 | My wife and I are planning to move to China later this year. We have travelled to China before and love it but we have never lived there for an extended period. We are trying to plan our budget & need some help! Could anyone give us a general idea of how much rent (modest accommodation) & food would cost per month. I know this can vary dramatically from city to city. Because our funds are limited we are thinking of a smaller city where rents might be a little cheaper & it is still possible to find work teaching english. I know that there have been many discussions on this in the past, but any help would be greatly appreciated!  Cheers |
| Feb 1, 2009 17:40 | #1 |
| I can only speak from experience about Yangshuo in Guangxi province. 5000 yuan per month is about the going rate for a teacher with food and accommodation supplied. Alternatively a reasonable apartment can be easily found for about 400 per month. Chinese food is ridiculously cheap everywhere. |
| Feb 1, 2009 18:02 | #2 |
| Thanks! I know cities vary greatly, but is good to get feedback from different places which can help in our decision of where it might be best to consider. |
| Feb 1, 2009 18:09 | #3 |
| Yes cities vary greatly, both in the cost of living and the salaries paid. While you can make a lot more money in larger cities the costs spiral accordingly. Many larger teaching institutions now require qualifications wheras in the minor cities being a native English speaker is the only prerequisite. In Yangshuo just looking western is a sufficient qualification. |
| Feb 1, 2009 18:19 | #4 |
| Part of our motiviation for going is to improve our Mandarin, we have heard in southern china most of the locals use a dialect. Is that true in Yangshuo. Also how long have you lived there? What sort of school do you work in? Is there much of an expat community? Sorry for all the questions, but this sort of info would be a big help! |
| Feb 1, 2009 18:55 | #5 |
| I don't live in Yangshuo and never have. I often go to China for holidays and use Yangshuo as a base because most people can speak at least a little English there. Yangshuo is probabaly the English language capital of China. I am often approached and offered teaching jobs as are many tourists travelling through. Yangshuo attracts many Chinese English students because it affords the ready opportunity to talk to westeners and hence practice speaking English as well as innumerable schools. Yangshuo has a large expat community but the quality of many teachers is poor. Many are not native English speakers. Most are just tourists short of a dollar and use it as a stopover to replenish their bank accounts. Many party accordingly. Every area in China has it's own dialect. Cantonese is largley spoken in Guangdong province but not Guangxi. If you want to learn Mandarin then Yangshuo has students willing to teach you from all over China. |
| Feb 1, 2009 19:08 | #6 |
| Thanks for the info.....certainly worth investigating. Cheers!  |
| Feb 1, 2009 19:13 | #7 |
| I don't know exactly what your looking for but personally I could easily live in Yangshuo. If there's any more you want to know just send me a message or email. I am in Melbourne if you want to talk on the phone. |
| Feb 2, 2009 11:29 | #8 |
| For your condition (limited budget, easy to study mandarin and wish to find a teacher job), I recommend several cities for you: 1 -Lijiang or Kunming in Yunnan province 2 -Yangshuo or Guilin cisty in Guangxi 3 -Chengdu or other middle cities in Sichuan province. Any middle cities in China, if there's any university or college, you can easy to live there because so many young persons can speak simple English and you will easy to find a teacher job there. |
| Feb 2, 2009 11:33 | #9 |
| Furthermore, Rmb 2500-3000 per month will be the deadline for you and your wife living in mentiond cities. With Rmb 5000/month, you can have reasonable life there. |
| Feb 4, 2009 22:11 | #10 |
| I agree with all the comments above. Yes most cities in Guandong province have there own dialects (as do most cities in China). I live in Huadu outside of Guangzhou and have found most people know Mandarin even though the majaority speak Cantonese. There is a growing demand for english teachers here in as alot of schools are opening, but be careful and check buisness licenses and reputations of the school and owners. Living in Huadu where almost no one speaks english has helped me improve my Mandarin greatly and also have started learning some Cantonese which is a little harder since they use around 6 tones...lol |
Page 1 of 2 < Previous Next > Page:
Post a Reply to: Cost of living
Copyright © 1998-2024 All rights reserved.