moving to Shanghai in August-costs?

[tommycat]

Hi, I am moving to Shanghai in August. I would like to know if my salary and housing allowance are feasible to live in the former French Concession area, or whether to give up this idea. I am single, and will have housing allowance around 4,000 rmb per month. I will make approx 13,000 gross per month, with a nice relocation allowance. I would appreciate any information about spending and saving.

Thanks!

[taylor04]

What do you want us to say? There are Chinese people living in Shanghai who live on 5k RMB or less, there are also people who spend much more than your salary on rent. Can you live comfortably on 13k rmb? Yes, and no, it depends on you on what you define as comfortable.

[jbradfor]

He specified the area and the housing allowance.

So is RMB 4000 a reasonable monthly rent for a place big enough for one person (say 40-50 m^2) in the French Quarter at a quality that most Westerners would find "reasonable" but not "extravagant"?

I think that's a fair question.

@tommycat, you might want to read this thread as well. It's not limited to the French Quarter -- in fact, it's not limited to Shanghai -- so it may be hard to find really comparable places, but you might want to check for a first look.

[taylor04]

Yes, but while he said reasonable but not extravagant, I think it is still way to broad. I think every single person you ask would give you a different answer. My answer was more geared to the salary part. I have had times where money was tight and spent less than 1,000 kuai, but lived quite a happy life on 2-3,000 most of the time(excluding traveling). However, a lot of foreigners in Shanghai consider spending 10,000 kuai a reasonable life, some more, nothing extravagant.

I'm not saying the question is out of line, merely we don't have enough details. What's his lifestyle like now? Is he a university student who lived on instant noodles for the last four years and just got his first job? Is it a school asking him to come over at teach 40 classes a week + office hours? Does he hate Chinese food and plan on eating Western every night?

[jbradfor]

I agree with all you say about living expenses, it is too broad.

I'm just trying to focus on the housing part of his question for now. I think that was the main point of his post, as he asked about whether living in the French Quarter was feasible; I would not expect ones non-rent living expenses to vary much based on what part of the city one lives in, only the rent part to vary.