Hi,

Shanghai is generally cheaper than the US and much cheaper than Europe. However in the last 2-3 years, the US Dollar has been losing strength against the local currency.

- Tranportation : Taxis and the metro are very cheap. Public transport is really good.

- Beer/Nightlife which caters to foreign crowds will not be *that* cheap if one is a student.

- Restaurants of all types are available and quite good in pricing. Local high standard restaurants are also good value for money. Something like 10$-15$ per person.

- Designer shopping - most original designer stuff is much more expensive than places like Dubai/US.

- Normal clothes and other items are available at really good prices. The place is a consumer heaven.

Cheers! :)

I agree with KBirdi, go enjoy the service and restaurant, not to buy and luxury items since the custom is still very high even with CHINA joined the WTO for quite a few years now.

For girl, it would be shopping heavens since you girls can wear anything; for man, buy cloth at US, which is really a shopping heaven for mid-to-high end product, and sometime only charge 10% of the price you would pay at china.

Here are some price guidelines:

Remember RMB 7 = US $1

single ride on bus or metro: 4-6 RMB

taxi minimum fare: 11 RMB (about 2 minutes at 30Km/hr)

15 minute taxi ride: around 15-18 RMB

bottle of water: 2 rmb

yogurt in the supermarket : 2.50 rmb

1 pound fresh Chinese vegetables : 4 RMB

Chinese food (lunch box): 20-50 RMB depending on service level

dinner at a small chinese restaurant: 50-100 RMB per person

Dinner at 4-5 star hotel": 200-250 RMB (i.e. same as in the US)

starbucks : about the same or 10% less than in the US

T shirt at a "fast casual" store: 50- 100 RMB

Designer goods are 20-25% higher priced than in the US or HK, due to the "Premium" value of a brand

For instance, Zara in Shanghai is more expensive than Zara in HK or Singapore

stationery, notebooks, etc: 50% less expensive than the US

backpacks, luggage, etc: 30% cheaper than in the US, unless buying "name brands" in which case, they're probably more expensive in China, unless you buy fakes

I've been studying in Shanghai for the past 5 years, and will be continuing for 2 more, starting at the end of August 2008.

Apart from accommodation and tuition, I would say you could live on anything from 1000 to 3000 RMB/month, depending on your spending habits. There're of course possibilities for less or more, but this amount should be quite enough for most international students here! I think I usually average around 2000 RMB/month, though I don't keep accounts anymore, so I can't be certain.

Which university would you be studying at? Feel free to email if you want to talk/ask questions, my email is ellyse99@yahoo.com -- please put "TripAdvisor" and your own username (eg exocroyal) in the subject line, thanks.

Here're some corrections to pamarx's prices.

A bus ride usually costs 2 RMB. Some buses are priced by journey length, those usually cost 2-4 RMB.

Metro starts at 3 RMB, the majority of rides should cost you 3-4 RMB. The maximum price for a really long metro ride (which I doubt you'll be taking) would be around 8 RMB, IIRC.

The 11 RMB taxi flagfall rate usually lasts more than just 2 minutes! A general rule of thumb is that the cost of the taxi ride, assuming anywhere from 11 to 60 RMB, is roughly equivalent to the number of minutes that the ride takes.

A 500ml bottle of water usually costs about 1-2 RMB in supermarkets. Don't bother going for the expensive imported brands, the local brands are fine. If you're not getting a water dispenser (which saves you lots of money, especially if you're a heavy water drinker), buy the gallon bottles (ie around 4000ml) for about 4-6 RMB in supermarkets. That would be a lot more economical. If you have a water dispenser, twice the price would be enough to get you a very big bottle of water -- my friends tend to finish one of these within 5-10 days, though I probably take 25-30 days.

Simple meal in university canteens, assuming you don't mind how it tastes, costs around 2-8 RMB.