Hello Steem Blockchain!
Today, I'd like to make known what my living expenses are while living in the People's Republic of China! It is a topic that I really wanted to illustrate and announce to my online viewers for a while, but never got around to it until now!
Compared to the West, China can be an inexpensive haven for people that would like to save money. Be it student loans, transportation costs, food, etc. Whatever you pay for in China, it is probably less expensive than in Western countries like Canada, USA and the UK.
P.S. For a TL;DR Version, scroll to the bottom of this post to read the summary of expenses.
For a video version, check it out here!
So without further ado, let's get into it!
Expense #1: Rent
I live in a one-bedroom apartment in a tier 3 city called Qinhuangdao. The cost of living in Qinhuangdao is definitely lower than bigger cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Upon arriving to China over 3 years ago, I took some photos of my lovely abode.
Living Room and Bedroom
My living room is quite spacious for a minimalist like myself. It came with a long couch that is fairly comfortable and clean. I really like this couch because it is long enough for people to sleep on if I ever have friends staying over. It is easy to clean, the cushions can come out and the sheets can be vacuumed and washed in the washing machine. If you look near the top of the photo, you can see that I have an enclosed balcony area for hanging my clothes.
My bedroom is also spacious enough. It looks a little small in the photo, but that is because the whole photo can't fit on this collage. I have a queen sized bed (actually, China uses a different system. My bed is 1.5x2 meters). What makes me laugh is I used to sleep with those sheets and cover but they were clearly too small for my bed. A couple years ago, I replaced the mattress and sheets+blanket to ones that are supposed to fit the bed so it looks much nicer now haha.
Kitchen & Bathroom/Laundry Area
The kitchen is a little narrow but it definitely gets the job done. I usually have just enough space for cooking my meals. I actually have an induction stove which is a type of stove that uses electricity to heat the pots and pans as opposed to convection currents and natural gas. I don't think I could ever go back! It is so convenient because it heats up so quickly yet the surface does not get too hot!
The bathroom is just a standard bathroom except for one thing: the whole room is the shower! Normally in Chinese/Asian households, they don't have a separate area for taking a shower. Basically, there is a shower head on the right wall (not visible in the photo) and you just take a shower there. I have gotten used to it and don't mind actually.
So how much does it cost me to live here per month?
TOTAL: $0
That's right folks! I don't pay anything for rent because my apartment is actually provided to me by the school that I work for. The apartment is located inside the school campus and they are generous enough to have me not pay for it. I always feel fortunate for being able to live here.
School Campus
The campus is modern and beautiful. It feels like you are in a peaceful environment and don't have to deal with all the normal noise pollution that dwellers of the city have to put up with.
Expense #2: Internet
Internet is the most important means of me connecting to the outside world. In China, I often feel secluded at times because as most of you know, the internet in China is restricted and only permitted websites and services can be accessed here. Not being able to access YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. easily can sometimes make you experience withdrawal symptoms and anxiety. Fortunately, I am not totally destitute of the internet, as long as my VPN is in operation. The downside is my internet speeds will drop even more and they aren't good to begin with. Check out these speed tests!
Without a VPN
With a VPN
Yikes. Anybody living in a developed country is probably crying right now. But it isn't too bad. I can still watch YouTube videos with 720p fairly easily and can still upload my videos onto YouTube. But forget about sites like Vimeo. Jesus, that site is practically unusable for me. I am still always grateful that my internet is at least good enough to do these things. VPNs are getting more and more difficult to use these days and the speed isn't as fast as before. That is why I am thankful for @steem and @dtube because I can still access it without a VPN (however, some problems do persist with DTube).
So how much do it pay?
TOTAL: $0
Hahaha! Like I said for Expense #1, it is provided by the school. Unfortunately, I cannot even purchase my own internet plan even if I wanted to because I was told by the ISPs that they cannot do so on our school campus. In China you can get 100 Mbps, without a VPN of course, but even losing some speed with a VPN would still allow me to do more than I can now. For now, I am stuck using the schools slower internet, but at least it gets the job done and I don't have to pay for it.
Expense #3: Utilities (Tap Water, Electricity, A/C, Heating)
TOTAL: $0
Hahaha! Am I just going to keep teasing you with this? Utilities are also provided by the school at no cost to me!
Expense #4: Drinkable Water
Ok, no more messing with you guys. I actually do have to pay for drinking water here. In China, you CANNOT drink the tap water! Unless, that is, you want to get sick. Boiling the tap water is, generally, safe and is something many of the locals do, but I would advise against that. You probably won't get sick immediately for drinking boiled tap water, but boiling water only kills the bacteria, viruses and parasites. You still have to worry about all the other nasty stuff (and drinking dead germs) in the water such as heavy metals (old plumbing), pesticides and whatever other junk is in there that boiling doesn't magically eliminate.
That is why I always drink clean water from those big blue jugs.
They give me peace of mind and I don't have to worry about accumulating heavy metals in my body. Each bottle costs me 12 RMB and I buy 2 bottles at a time for a total of 24 RMB ($3.79 USD), which lasts me about 8 days. Let's say I order water 4 times a month.
TOTAL: 96 RMB ($15.14 USD)
The water is pretty easy to order. I contact the delivery man on WeChat, tell him to bring 2 bottles of water, I put the empty bottles outside my door with the money underneath them and then he comes and replaces the bottles with full ones.
Expense #5: Food
Chinese food is usually very cheap in China. If you are someone that needs to eat foreign food, you will probably pay more than back in your home country for it. I for one, like to cook at home most of the time, but I do enjoy going out to eat from time to time.
Buns stuffed with bean paste
I have been learning how to cook more Chinese dishes recently and am enjoying the process.
Fried potatoes with string beans & Tomatoes with Eggs
Cooking at home can save you money, but to be honest, you could even save money eating out everyday. I just don't think it is that healthy to be eating out all the time. At least when you are at home, you have a better idea of what ingredients you use and how much oil you use as well. Chinese food can often times be quite oily and salty. For that reason, I prefer to cook at home.
However, eating out at restaurants is a great option as well for being economical.
Fried eggplants and Sour & Spicy Beef Noodle Soup
For the first 2 years I was in China, I was actually Vegan. I never bought any meat to cook and that cut my food expenses in half. However, these days I do eat meat again and meat can be quite cheap here. I usually pay 30 RMB ($4.74 USD) per 500g of beef at the market I go to. Vegetables are dirt cheap here and so are many of the local fruits like apples and mandarin oranges. Imported fruits can cost quite a bit. During some seasons, it costs about $5 USD for one small avocado.
TOTAL: 800 RMB ($126.18 USD)
If I was vegan, I could cut that expense in half!
Expense #6: Transportation
Transportation is cheaper and better than any form of transport back in Canada. Plenty of buses and taxis/Didi (China's Uber) to choose from.
The bus fare ranges from 1-2 RMB (16-32 cents). It costs 1 RMB when the bus does not need to turn on A/C or heating and 2 RMB during the winter and summer months. They are usually very modern and get the job done. There is a bus stop across the street from my apartment that takes me to the downtown in about 40 minutes for 2 RMB. I'd expect to pay over $3 in Canada.
My friend, Sherry, and I waiting for a bus in Beijing
Bus Interior
Taxis in my city start at 7 RMB ($1.11 USD) and then increase by 2.50 RMB (0.39 cents) per km.
TOTAL: 200 RMB ($31.55 USD)
Saving all kinds of money!
Expense #7: Cell Phone Service
Last item on the list is cell phone service.
Cell phone service is a complete robbery in Canada. You will have to pay at least $60 per month if you own a smartphone. Not the case in China. In fact, I only pay 38 RMB per month for my cell phone plan and that is enough for me (except for data). I get 500MB of data and a couple hundred minutes of talk time for month. I don't need to talk that often on my phone. This plan doesn't include outgoing text messaging, but that is okay because most people send messages on WeChat, which uses a miniscule amount of data for sending messages. However, I find that 500MB of data is usually not enough for me, so I purchase extra data. The data plan I usually purchase is 6 GB for 60 RMB ($9.46 USD) and it can be used over the span of 3 months. Therefore, it would cost 20 RMB per month.
TOTAL: 58 RMB ($9.15 USD)
What is the Grand Total per month?
Let's calculate!
Rent: Free
Internet: Free
Utilities: Free
Drinkable Water: 96 RMB ($15.14 USD)
Food: 800 RMB ($126.18 USD)
Transportation: 200 RMB ($31.55 USD)
Cell Phone Service: 58 RMB ($9.15 USD)
GRAND TOTAL: 1154 RMB or $182.02!
I hope this post was intriguing and helpful to you all out there. China is a wonderful and convenient country to live in and I am so thankful to have, what would be my biggest expenses, provided to me for free. It allows me to save a boatload of money and makes me life a whole lot easier.
Thanks for reading!
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