Cost Summary: First Month as an ESL Teacher in China

by Michael Tieso on September 30, 2010

in Asia,Destinations,ESL,Featured,Tips / Planning

I’m teaching English as a second language in Xi’an, China. Keep in mind the cost of living would be dramatically higher if I were living in Shanghai or Beijing. Since this is my first month, I needed a lot of basic things for the apartment. I landed in Beijing August 25th, 2010 and arrived in Xi’an on the 26th.

Accommodation is paid for by the university. I have yet to pay for electricity but from what I understand, it’s fairly cheap anyway.

Studying

Bank Days: (in USD)

$17.76 | Meal in Tokyo for Layover
$44.23 | Beijing Airport | Aug 25th
$44.23 | Xi’an | Aug 28th
$44.16 | Sept 1st
$73.74 | Sept 4th
$44.29 | Sept 9th
$44.47 | Sept 11th
$44.55 | Sept 14th
$44.77 | Sept 18th

Total: $402.2USD

Spent On:

Each meal is typically 10RMB for lunch or dinner. Breakfast is about 4RMB. I normally need my three meals a day.
About twice a week I spurge spending around 25 to 40RMB for a dinner. I love a good BBQ on the streets with a few friends.
I’ve partied. At the bars it ranges from 10RMB to 20RMB a beer. On the street it’s 4RMB. There has been about plenty of nights of this.
I needed things for my apartment. New pillow, snacks, coffee, tea, soap, shampoo, hangers, rug, and a few other small items. Most of these will last for months.
I’m taking Chinese lessons. It’s 40RMB an hour and I go twice a week.
Touring around here and there to downtown Xi’an.

$1usd = 6.8rmb

Verdict

I’ve spent a lot according to the Chinese standards of living in this area. I’m living 30 minutes from downtown so things are a bit cheaper than in the city center. I could have done it for less but it would mean sitting in my apartment all month with anything. Most of the money went towards getting settled and experiencing what Xi’an has to offer. In the coming months, I plan to take it easy. I’ve got most of what I need to get by. I’m estimating in the coming months, I’ll be averaging $200USD a month.

I hope this helps give you a general idea what to expect if you plan to teach English in China. Again, prices vary significantly in different cities. I may also buy things you may not need/want and vice versa.

Article by Michael Tieso

Michael Tieso travels around the world writing, photographing, and filming his adventures. He left the cubicle life to travel the world in May 2009 and he still continues the journey to this day with no end to it. He loves adventure, food, and music. He is the Editor-in-chief of Art of Backpacking. Follow him on Twitter and Google+.

Michael has written 285 awesome articles for AOB.

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http://www.tctype.com ChinaMatt
You’re in Xi’an…you have great options for good cheap meals. Look for the Muslim noodle restaurants–usually a full meal is less than 10 kuai.
I think in my first month in Shenzhen I spent a little over 3000 kuai (and the exchange rate then was 8=$1).

http://artofbackpacking.com Michael
Wow that’s a nice exchange rate. When was that? I usually don’t spend more than 10 kuai on most of my meals on even meat dishes.

Thomas Aylmer
Nice. Love the post. I think you’re right… Xi’an…is much cheaper than the Tier 1 cities. And it’s especially cheaper because we’re away from downtown. I want to do a similar post on purchasing power parity to see how much, in American dollars, we are actually making here.
Why do you think Kao Rou is more expensive? By they way, I asked them their prices. A lamb kabob is 1 yuan, a chicken kabob is 2 yuan, and a chicken wing kabob is 4 yuan. If we order less chicken wings, it won’t be as expensive. Those are hard and messy to eat, anyways.

http://artofbackpacking.com Michael
That’s too funny. This is one way we’ll be saving. Those chicken wings are too messy anyway.

Marina K. Villatoro
It’s great to have an estimate of how expensive things are in china in case I visit it.
Earl
It will be interesting to see how things go in the coming months. In my experience, as you continue to get settled and more comfortable, you’ll start to figure out more ways to cut costs without sacrificing your quality of life. It’s only natural that it would take a while for this to happen while in a foreign country.
Seems like a good life though…Chinese street food always sounds appealing to me!

http://artofbackpacking.com Michael
That’s what I’m hoping. I’m sure i’ll be spending less in the coming months.

http://artofbackpacking.com AOBdolce
You’re great at saving money! Great post!
http://www.worldcurioustraveler.wordpress.com Mary R
Dear Michael,
Thanks for such a meticulous assessment of your spending. I visited Xi’an and thought it looked like a nice place to live and work. I’m in Okinawa now, which is very expensive comparatively… It seems like you’re spending wisely though- entertainment, education, and friends which are all necessities if you ask me!

http://artofbackpacking.com Michael
Hi Mary,
Most places in Japan will probably be more expensive than China. Okinawa does look beautiful as well. I haven’t been yet but it’s on my wish list. Safe travels!

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Mel
Hey Michael,
I don’t remember which post it was but you mentioned getting access to Facebook in China, and I was wondering how to go about doing that? I’m leaving for China in 2 days for a year, and I’ll definitely need facebook to keep in touch with my friends back in Canada.
Thanks!