When we first thought about possibly moving to Shanghai, one of the things I scoured the internet for was the cost of living! How could we even consider moving to a city in which we had no idea about cost? How much do things cost in Shanghai?
I’m going to list items and their prices in RMB. Some of the prices are not exact, and keep in mind that the current exchange rate from RMB to USD is about 6.45, so take the prices that I give and divide it by that number. Here we go!
FOOD items
100rmb per person, for a hot-pot dinner
2-5 rmb street breakfast (rice rolls, xiao long bao, steamed buns, fried things, and others)
3 rmb seasoned lamb meat skewer – makes a good snack after 9pm
10 rmb bowl of beef noodle soup in a small, VERY local, dirty, muslim-style restaurant
18-30 rmb per bowl of noodle soup in at Taiwanese noodle place
5-9 rmb bubble tea, depending on where you get it
100-150rmb Sichuan or Taiwanese meal for 4, in a local place
8 rmb small watermelon
15 rmb 4 juicy mangoes
60-70rmb container of instant coffee (nescafe or maxwell house)
2-4rmb candy bars
1rmb ice pop
600-800rmb SUPER NICE dim sum, lunch for 4 people, in a SUPER elegant restaurant
13rmb small stick of salted butter
20rmb 15 ounce can of organic crushed tomato
16 rmb 1 pound of dried pasta
1rmb 7-up in a bottle
35-135rmb fresh-killed chicken, depending on how it’s raised, if it’s old or young and if it’s organic
2.50rmb small Snickers bar
10rmb KFC’s snow-topped iced coffee
200rmb Afternoon Tea at the Park Hyatt Hotel, per person
