Job Discussion Forums

[kukiv]

[Mr. Ed]

Honestly, I can live a better quality of life in a hinterland city of Henan on 4,500 rmb than in Shanghai on 12,000.

Case in point:
Shanghai taxi 11 rmb to get in and sit down
Guangzhou 7 rmb
Hinterland Henan 3 rmb


My point is simple, absolute statements are dangerous.

[kukiv]

[Mr. Ed]

[kukiv]

only once a month - must be expensive!!!!!!!!
Drink a few more colas - and you could save up for a few more visits

[Mr. Ed]

[kukiv]

Not trying to be too antagonistic - but just trying to ram home the fact that cost of living has as much to do with the way you lead a life than a simplistic table of Cola prices.

The biggest difference job location would make to an FT's wage packet would be if they had to pay for their own accommodation - otherwise I'm pretty sure an FT could scrimp and save in the most expensive of cities as long as the had the facilities to cook their own food.
Basic price differences from city to city for basic living requirements - apart from rent - are pretty small that they don't make a massive differences to saving possibilities for those FT's who are content to lead a quiet life.
However if you're here to 'hit the town' - then it can be another story!!!!!

[Mr. Ed]

[kukiv]

exactly Mr. Ed - so if you go to one of those big cities - make sure you get a good employment deal on accommodation.

Lots of cola and opera tickets to be bought from the savings made with a job that provides decent free housing or a sufficient and realistic housing allowance - if you can combine that with what you consider a decent hourly rate then you're laughing

[Sugar & Spice]

I generally agree with Kuviv. Apart from rent/utilities, most things are around the same prices in the local shops. Bars & Restaurants are more and should be because of the rent etc...

While the rent may be less in a small town/city, other things may actually be more because of the location and number of stores.

For example, when I lived in Shanghai I could buy a bottle of beer for 2.5 rmb, a pack of Huangshan cigarettes for 5 rmb and a lighter for 1 kuai. Besides that, I could take a taxi almost anywhere in the foreigner friendly parts of town for less than 30 kuai.

Now, I live about 45 minutes on a bus to the beginning of the active parts of a smaller city; 1 hour to downtown. If I take a taxi, it takes a good 30 minutes and costs more than 50; 100 to downtown. Since there is only 1 larger store, they charge 4.5 for the beer, 5.5 for the cigs and 2 for the lighter!

So, "basically", while the rent may be cheaper, other costs are higher! Even though I might be saving on rent (which I don't pay), other things cost a bit more = in the end it is around the same.

[kukiv]