Moving To Guangzhou Need Help

[cherubim]

I'll be moving to Guangzhou to live for a year or two. Few things I like to know before I arrive.

1. Which area is consider to be safer to live in?

2. I know cost of renting a decent 1 bedroom apartment is around $2500-3000RMB. Water and electricity is not included. So on average how much does people (I'm just going to be living alone so hopefully the variable stuff like water and electricity won't be too much) pay for

a ) water bill

b ) electricity bill

c ) internet (I found out should be $100/month for DSL?)

d ) mobile phone plan (in Canada we usually have monthly phone plans. Example: $30/month 200 day time minutes, unlimited nights and include caller ID etc.)

e ) health plans

3. How much will a set meal cost. Example: $7CND; soup, salad and bake Portuguese chicken rice.

4. How much is the average salary for bank supervisors/managers? I know newly university graduates only get $3000-$4000 as their starting wage. Is it true that when you get promoted your salary will double?

Thanks in advance for your assistance!

[BrandeX]

1. Anywhere you are willing to live in will be fine here. I enjoy Clifford Estates personally, and lots of foreigners live here.

2. a. Not sure, its pretty damn small. a dozen rmb a month?

b. depends on the month and how much AC you use. a couple hundred rmb I suppose at least.

c. internet starts around 100 a month yes. I pay 120 a month for 2M service from Chinanet atm.

d. No one uses mobile phone plans in China. You will be buying reacharge "cards" with code numbers on them you enter on your phone (avail in English). They are usually sold in 50 or 100rmb amounts.

e. not sure on the health plan, I don't have one. I am not sure if foreigners who are not employed by a Chinese company are allowed to have insurance in this country even. Best to let another forum member answer that one.

3. Expect to pay 20 to 40 rmb for a set meal depending on where/what you want to eat.

4. Maybe something like 3k or 4k rmb a month is accurate possibly more. (not dollars). Don't expect to get any job in a bank if you are not a Chinese citizen. You can earn 2x or 3x their salary teaching English anyways if you are so inclined.