I live in the south now, shared apartment. My costs went up, but not as much as other people. My budget is 3000/month at most. 1200 for my furnished room, utilities included, 100 for the cell phone, 500 for food (very little meat and western food). I use Chinese brands for everything so about 100 for necessities. Basically, not going out, 2000/month, the extra 1000 is for extras.
Ok, so I'm going to give you a much lower estimate, but everything depends on your lifestyle.
Last year, I studied at KSTU, here is what my living costs looked like:
1. Housing: shared dorm room, 3 other girls, 1200 RMB / year.
It's a big change from living on your own, but you're at the foreigners' dorm, meet people (both foreigner and Chinese), are not alone if you get sick... and it's dirt cheap if you're low on cash.
2. Water and electricity bills. We paid up to 200 RMB for 3 months in the winter, using washing machines, electric heaters and heated blankets. Add 3 RMB for communal showers on rainy day (solar water heater in the dorms are very inefficient). So let's say 1000RMB a year.
3. Food. University cafeteria + oatmeal breakfast + fruits from the market approx 30RMB / day (could go much lower if you don't eat meat and cafeteria breakfast: 10~15/day). Count about 1000/ month without going out and no foreign food (unless you saved and ate just rice for a while)
4. Phone. I used to go by with about 20~25RMB a month. Using wifi most of the time and 2G for the occasional map lookup and e-mail / WeChat. Right now, 4G from China mobile costs me about 100 a month with 1G of data and plenty talk time/text. Unless you're streaming on you phone, that's quite a lot.
5. Shared internet: we paid 200 each for the entire year.
OK, so my minimum: 14, 700 RMB for the entire year.
That doesn't include buying necessities: Bedding (300 if you go to the markets), kettle / water dispenser (30~50), desk lamps (min 30 RMB each new), extension cords (20 min), hand warmers (50, warms you nicely in the winter, and if you're used to the cold, don't need a heater), laundry (by hand 0, dorm cleaner 5/3kg, or by a laundry machine), personal hygiene products vary, western ones are expensive
If the weather is good enough for this trip, I'll be taking the overnight bus to Lanping. I'm still looking at whether there is something to do around Lanping for that first day or not. I've found some vague information about a mountain resort there, but I'm still hazy on the details. If not, I'll head south straight away.
I expect accommodation in Lanping to be easy to find near the bus station. So far, every village I've been to that has a bus stop also has an inn of sort. Worse case scenario, I'll push all the way to Nuodeng (80km, with sightseeing is perfectly doable, especially travelling light and downhill).
I'll pack some snacks, but food shouldn't be a problem either as the area is far from deserted. I speak some Chinese, so I've never had trouble securing a meal and boiled water... Of course, it's usually not at a restaurant. More like a bowl of rice and some meat (goat) and veggies.
I'll let you know what it's like afterward!
Wow, that's amazing information!
I'll be going south, from Lanping to Nuodeng as I'd rather go downhill (lazy me), but I'll make sure to check and compare with what I'll have seen on the way.
Thanks a lot!
Yes, I am! I "only" have 3 days for Christmas and then I need to be back in Kunming for work. Then 4 days for New Year and back to work. I'm not going to spend thousands (of RMB) for just a few days...
And yes, I'm looking for something in Yunnan specifically. I've been here for over a year and seen so little that I'm almost ashamed to say I live here.
If the weather is good, I'm probably going to get my bike and ride down the Bijiang between Lanping and Yunlong to see the old bridges. With a stop at Nuodeng of course!
I'll save the beach for Chinese New Year break, though I might be heading more toward Thailand than Sanya...
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