@Yuantongsi Not to mention that they also want you to have a car and a house. Ha..ha. If no car, a house will do. Ha.ha. Another this that people forget is that the yuan is not giving more the bang.

And don't forget you'll have to buy them the obligatory iPhone too!

Hehe.

Would be interested to find out how much is needed now to live comfortably in Kunming since this thread was started so long ago. Thoughts?

"comparing shanghai and kunming is like compare newyork and sacramento"

No, it's more like comparing New York to Baton Rouge Louisianna. Kunming is mostly filled with "Duck Dynasty" folks.

It is very curious that Kunming food and living prices are out of sync with China in general. I mean they are more expensive with less quality than many 1st tier cities. BTW, I AM excluding Shanghai and Beijing in my comparisons.

This didn't use to be the case, but Kunming has really changed a lot in the past few years.

Regarding the cultural imperatives China has for finding partners with houses/cars etched, it does make me scratch my head as to how people can afford them given current prices and wage rates. At 4k per month you make 48k per year, a medium multiple of 13 (based on 85 sq metre apt @7.5 k/sqm) which necessitates a rather large and unaffordable loan over a long period. Remember a medium multiple of more than 3 is considered unaffordable.

Interestingly here, even if your house is almost 100% bank owned, they (or other banks) will still give you credit based on you having the deed to an apartment. I know this as my wife works in a credit card department for a bank. This credit then enables you to buy a car and have multiple credit cards to boot.

This credit backed by unsecured investments is all well and fine as long as the economy keeps chugging along with high growth, but what happens when growth stops? Or worse, what if the growth you are experiencing is a result of building the same assets which are causing credit based on credit?

Personally I can see China is going to have a rather large correction in the future, which will result in a lot of repossessed cars/houses etc. That will likely mean credit company collapses and a big wage stagnation also. Imagine the American real estate situation of 5 years ago and multiply that by two...

All I see now is China trying to build its way out of trouble, but with the massive oversupply of unaffordable houses (80 million empty apartments at last count and clearly growing) they may be setting themselves up for a fall.

i know it's probably mean but i am saving up for after the real estate bubble bursts. Then i will buy my house.

the gov already tried twice to regulate the credit and loan overload both didn't work. if you think the bank and finance sector is greedy in the West just imagine how much worse it is here where literally everything has a price tag.
would be typical for the dragon to trip over it.s own tail .....again.

ad much as wages for kunming goes, it depends on the field and experience everything from 5000 for Uni teachers, 20000 for international highschools. 7000 -15000 for some creative jobs. 3-4000 for some foreing service and hospitally gigs.

I find it really interesting that the living expenses from 3 years ago still seem huge to me now... I know that I'm used to living very cheaply, but still...

Here is a breakdown of my basic needs spending (and that of some friends) from the last 4 months:

- eating out, Chinese style, basic dish, 2 meals / day + breakfast + some fruits and tea, 30 RMB / day => 900/month

- cell phone, around 30 per month

- renting a decent room (not an apartment) close to the university (Green lake area), 500 per month, including solar hot water, electricity and internet

- various (toiletries, bus tickets, playing pool...), around 300 tops / month
That's for the basics.

Depending on where you live, plane tickets cost up to 8000 RMB round trip (correct me if I'm wrong, but that should cover most of Europe and North America - didn't check New Zeland) with a Chinese carrier. So you'd have to save up to 700 a month.

International health insurance, if you're young (I checked for age <30) and want full coverage, costs something like 1000 a month.

Work related accidents and illnesses is usually a percentage of salary and might be tied to the type of work. The one I checked was 1.15% of salary with a minimum of around 1800 a year. Unemployment benefits was 6.8% of gross salary.

The most expensive part is private pension premiums... The one I checked was around 2500 RMB a month with a salary under 12K / month (and that's the minimum). But this is tied to your salary and might not be a consideration if you only plan on living in China for a year or so.

So, to sum up:

- around 1800 to cover the most basic needs

- up to 700 for 1 round trip ticket a year

- 1000 (depending on age and type of coverage) for a medical insurance

- 1000 (for a salary under 12000) for work and unemployment insurance

- 2500 for pension savings

If you're only here for a year or so, 5000 a month living cheaply is enough to get by and travel a bit, even if your employer doesn't pay for anything else.

If you're considering staying longer and want a comprehensive social security, I wouldn't go for less than 10K (if there are no benefits)... That allows for some additional travel, some savings or partying. Or a real apartment (but that would be most of the extra 3K).

The aveage teaching salary in yunnan is around 3000 to 4000 a month for 12 hours a week. Those telling you 5,000 to 10,00 are not telling the truth.

@the hao
they are not telling the truth or you get ripped off. i would say it's the latter.

80+Rmb/h for part time?seriously?