100 Yuan Bills
[UPDATE: Check out our 2011 update Cost of Living in Beijing, June 2011]
One type of question that I see pop up on forums about China again and again has to do with the cost of living here, things like, “How much does it cost to live in Beijing?” or “My school is offering X compensation. Is that a reasonable amount to live on in Beijing?”
So how much does it cost to live in Beijing?
Beijing is just like any other city. The spectrum of lifestyles is massive. There is a lot of money in Beijing, and there is also a lot of poverty. Obviously how much it costs to live anywhere depends on the choices you make. You can live no-frills cheap, you can live lavishly, or you can live someplace in the middle.
Forbes.com ranked Beijing as the 9th most expensive city in the world last year, but I think that it’s a bit misleading. Beijing is expensive if you want a two story house with a car and garage and a yard, but if you decide to live in a 20-story apartment building and use public transportation, it can be really cheap.
Kara and I moved to Beijing in March of 2008. We have both been working for most of that time and made a little over $4,000 a month between us. To give you an idea of our lifestyle: we live in a mid-range, two-bedroom apartment on the 22nd floor in the WangJing neighborhood. 98% of our neighbors are Chinese. We eat out at Western restaurants 2 to 3 times a week and have a Starbucks habit that’s in the $20-a-week range. I drive an electric scooter to work, and Kara uses public transportation and taxis. We have a washing machine but no drier. We have a toaster oven and a two-burner stove, and we have an Ayi* who comes to our house to clean two times a week. Over the past two years, we have returned to America twice to visit family, traveled to Thailand for a couple weeks, and have done a few small trips in China. We pay for Kara’s health insurance and visa and for a small storage unit in Wisconsin that holds our stuff back home. We have also paid off over $17,000 in credit card debt and student loans.
My point is, we don’t live as simply as we could, nor do we have an extravagant life here, but it’s actually cheaper for us to live here than it was for us to live in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. We have chosen to live without some of the comforts from home like a clothes drier or full-sized oven, but it’s really a pretty small sacrifice for all the other benefits we have from living here. The best thing for our finances about moving to a foreign country is that we were able to completely remake our spending habits. A change a scenery can really do wonders for financial clarity.
Straight-up answer: How much does it cost to live in Beijing?
As of June 2010, I would say you can live comfortably for 6,000 RMB ($875) a month per person, but you could make do on 3,000 RMB ($575).
*Ayi is the Chinese word for “Auntie.” Most expats living in Beijing employ an Ayi to help with cleaning, cooking, babysitting, or whatever. It really isn’t considered an extravagance here, but I will admit it feels a little weird trying to explain that to people back home.
My first year in China was 2004, and my monthly budget (after rent) was 1000 RMB but I lived on 500 RMB most of the time. So that fits with your 3,000/month budget even after cost of living increases. My living expenses budget for next year, however, is 9,000 RMB a month (rent included, but no overheads like insurance, travel, and savings).
If you choose to live here longer than a year or two, your budget may need to increase. Things you are happy to live without at the start may bug you after a few years. There are things in my new budget I don’t *need* but which make me much more content here long term. I could eat 3 meals a day for 10 RMB a day for my first six months, but it got pretty boring after a while! And while I was quite content living on buses my first year, once I was working more the cost of the time required to take a bus often outweighed the money it cost to pay for a taxi.
I have been following your blog now for several months. All I can say is thank you. I have an opportunity to come over with my family (wife and 2 kids) to teach in an international school. They are offering $17200 RMB / month. Do you think this will be enough to live comfortably?
Sam,
My wife and I live on almost exactly that. We’re working on paying off some student loans and we pay for Kara’s health insurance so it’s been a bit tight. If the school is helping with housing, health insurance, or flights 17,200 will probably be enough, but it wouldn’t be an extravagant lifestyle by any means.
I have just started reading your blog and it’s been really great! I hope to write one myself when I move to Beijing in October but right now I am dazzled by yours!
I am taking up a position with a research institute I currently work for, but in their Beijing office. At the moment, it looks like a minimum of two years. So I have two questions that I thought you might be able to help with:
1. They are offering 6000 RMB per month. Is this reasonable? I saw in one of your posts this is okay for one person, but you’ve mentioned that 17,200 for Sam is “probably” enough (I have a partner coming with me but no kids, so obviously that will change the story). Our office is in Haidian District, and I just want to live somewhere where I can get to work easily by public transport but not too far away from everything. I also need to pay back $40,000 in US student loans. Will this be possible?
2. Do you have any ballpark estimate of what kind of income tax I’d be dealing with? I can only find conflicting information online.
Danielle,
I’m going to answer your questions in a separate post. It should be up tomorrow.
Thanks Matt! Much appreciated.
hello,Matt..I’m from indonesia and going to study in Beijing for 1 semester (Chinese short course in BLCU) in Feb 2012. Actually, my intention is not for studying but to find a teaching job there.
I have a bachelor degree in education, english department, and in the middle of finishing my master’s thesis in education, early childhood programme. In my country, i have been teaching in private courses for more than 10 years now..and have been teaching in a private senior high school for the last 5 years…do you think i’ll be able to find any decent teaching job there?
Thanks before,Matt… =)
Helga,
There are often job postings for English teachers on the Beijinger website and other classifieds forums, but unfortunately for you many Chinese employers are more concerned with have a caucasian teacher than they are about having a qualified teacher, so you may have trouble getting a job teaching English if you’re ethnically Asian.
Hi Matt, I have been desperately researching on living comfortably in Beijing. I have, of course, lots of concerns about making this bold step in my life but my biggest fear is that I will feel stranded if I decide to work in Beijing within the next few months of 2011. My family originates from South China so I will probably have some difficulty meeting locals outside of work, but I am always willing to learn or attend lessons or a university that can help me. The job opportunity has offered me living quarters within walking distance from the work location, two days off per week, and 8000 chinese dollars a month. I’m unsure of how taxes function in paychecks over there, or if this amount of money is sufficient to live comfortably for a single person’s life. If I can ask you these and some more questions about living in Beijing, I would greatly and sincerely appreciate your help! Thank you so much in advance!
Sincerely,
Jenny
Jenny,
First, if the housing they provide is adequate then ¥8000 is probably enough for you to live on. Taxes are taken out by your company before your take home pay. If you’re a US citizen you’ll need to file taxes, but you won’t have to pay anything because of the Foreign Earned Income tax exemption. And I don’t think you’ll feel stranded, there are plenty of opportunities to connect with people here, and Beijing isn’t a bad place to live. If you have more questions write us at info(at)themiddlekingdom.org and we can feature your questions in a more thorough “ask an expat” post.
Hi Matt I’m coming over for six months to study Mandarin and do some prospecting for my company. I’m hoping to get by on 6 YMB a month, I can spend double that but really don’t want to if I can get away with it. My question is what can I expect to spend on rent for a modest studio or one bedroom furnished apt. not too far from the center of the city.
Marcus,
Check out this post Is ¥6000 Enough to Live On. Where another person asked the same question and we answered more in depth. I would guess you should expect to pay ¥2000-3000 for a studio apt inside 4th ring road.
hi matt,
i am agnes from malaysia. i got an offer from a beijing company to have internship there but they only paid me 3000 rmb/month which is included my living fees and accomodation fees.. do u think it is enough for me to live there?
actually i am trying to persuade myself to accept the internship but i have no idea or concept about beijing…do u think beijing is a good place to stay in for 1 year?? or i better go to find a stable job to earn more money and then take a course to get a cert which is about teaching foreigners chinese?
Agnes, it really depends on your level of lifestyle. I know a lot of my Asian friends find it easier to eat for cheap than my Western friends do, so ¥3000 might be enough (hamburgers and pizza are more expensive). To be honest 3000 seems pretty low to me. As far as a place to live for a year, I think it’s a great place to be.
Hi Matt,
First off cheers for the blog 9/10 times these things are crap so kudos on that! Anyway i’ve just caught the Asian bug as took up a job based out of Singapore, was only there for a week but loved it… I’m currently offshore working in Indian waters but once this job is finished in mid Feb im defo heading to Beijing, i think its a good city to start on my travels, im going to stop off in Bangkok and obtain a visa on a british passport, i believe this is a good way of geting in, think $80 will be my fee i looked it up… Ive also done most my homework on hostels/hotels and all just wondering on day to day stuff, ie food, beers and such… Also getting around the city fares and on getting to the wall is it a straight forward process… Hope your ok getting back to me just the first person ive seen actually answer a question in a good manner!
Basically all info is appreciated, ill be alone which i feel will be fine im pretty street wise, some of the stuff you read is useful but id like a staright forward answer to the basics. Also which markets are the best ive read up xiu shiu/ silk street…
Cheers buddy!
Kirk
Kirk,
I’m going to answer your questions in a post tomorrow. Thanks for the questions.
Matt
Hi Matt,
I’m Danica from the Philippines, I’ll be moving to Beijing before the end of May and I’m scouting for an apartment. I was offered 13,000CNY as a salary and I wonder if I can find a 2,500 – 3,000 CNY apartment which is not too far fram from the city center and if that amount of rent is reasonable for the monthly salary I’ll be receiving Also, can you suggest which areas in beijing is a safe and convenient place to move in to for foreigners like me. Thanks in advance
Danica,
Do you know what part of the city your school is in? I think you can find a place for that price in most parts of Beijing. It probably won’t be the nicest apartment, but not the worst either.
Hello Matt, I will be moving to China on July 2012 from the U.S. The reason why we are moving is because we want our children to learn mandarin. I am looking at Beijing New Talent academy, my children are 10 & 5 years old (girl & boy). I will not be moving for employment only for school (I also want to enroll in school). My husband will go back to the U.S. after the first month. Do you know about BNTA I been reearching schools and I do not want an international school, besides being to expensive they only give you 1 hour chinese per day. I want my children to immerse in chinese. We all are U.S. citizens, my children speak english and spanish fluently. Any suggestions? (I am not sure between Shanghai and Beijing). We also need information about visas.
Best regards,
Monica
The school has 8 branches in Beijing, I don’t know yet which branch i’ll be assigned to but among the 8, three are in the Chaoyang area. I heard Wangjing is a good place and that this is the area where you live in, is Wangjing a good place to move in?
To follow on from this conversation.
I have just been offered a scholarship by the Chinese Scholarship Council which offers a monthly stipend of CNY 1700. They provide accomodation. Is this realistic to live off?? As I am not sure if I can work whilst studying at this stage and it requires a committment of 3-4 years.
Please advise!
¥1700 is enough to live on for a little while, but I wouldn’t commit to a stipend that low for 3-4 years. You should also get a pretty good idea of what kind of accommodation they provide. It might not be that great. You could probably make additional money by doing english tutoring and other odd jobs.
Hi Matt,
I’ll be moving to Beijing on august. My work will be at CBD-Tongzhou district. Any suggestion on where I can find a cheap yet nice/confortable apartment around 1hour to 1.5hour away?
Do you mean you’ll have work in both CBD and TongZhou or do you mean that it will be the CBD of TongZhou? I don’t know a whole lot about TongZhou other than it seems to be a fast growing area. I wish I could give you more help.
Matt
Hi! I’m offered a scholarship at Beijing Sports University or Beijing Language and Culture University (do you know anything about either of them?) for one semester or a year. I currently live in Noway, and am about to finish high school. I presume living in China for a year – before going to a university – will be a great experience. Of course I could go directly to a university. What do you think? Any thoughts?
I will recieve 1000 yuan in support each month. Will that be enough, given that residence and two meals each day are already included?
Or is there anything else that you would suggest as to do the year after finnishing high school?
Great blog btw!!
Ma,
BLCU is a well known language school and I a lot of people that have gone there, I don’t know much about BSU. As a one year adventure, you could do it on ¥1000 a month since don’t have to pay for housing and get most of your meals on campus, but it will probably feel a bit tight. Especially if you want to travel at all while you’re here. If you can save a bit of money to bring with you I think you would feel a lot better. But I would say go for it, I think you’ll probably enjoy the experience.
Hi Matt,
You mentioned that Kara worked as a private tutor previously. I would like to find out more information concerning how I can become a private tutor. I will be in Beijing for several years and would like to supplement my income. How do I go about finding clients? I already have a work Visa; however, I don’t know the correct procedure for advertising especially since I don’t speak fluent Chinese. Do you have any suggestions?
So this is a stupid question but, in an apartment building, how do you dry your clothes after they are washed? If 6,000 RMB is $875, then shouldn’t 3,000 RMB be $437.50 (or the 6,000 RMB being $1150). Anyway, thanks for this article. Happy new year to you!!
Sean,
Yeah the math is messed up on this post, no one has commented or caught it before. It’s an old post though and the exchange rates and cost of living is all different now. Actually we’ll be posting an updated version of the cost of living in about a week.
To answer your question about drying clothes: almost everyone we know just air dries them. We have a metal fold out rack and a lot of apartments have a space dedicated to clothes drying.
HI Matt,
I m from INDIA. I have been given an offer in a radio station where they are ready to pay me 10,000yuan. And they have mentioned that “I have to pay nearly 1000 yuan for medical, social and jobless insurance.” I m a vegetarian. How will this work..? starting from Food , Shelter, Saving and TAX etc..?? Please help me as soon as possible as I will have to reply them in a couple of days.
Thanks in advance.