International Exchange – Cost of Living

[amaleki]

Hey,

I’m looking to do an international exchange at SWUFE between February and June of 2014. I was wondering if anyone could give me a rough estimate of the cost of living in Chengdu? My rent is approximately 500 – 800 RMB/month.

Thanks!

[amaleki]

Also, I know SWUFE is kind of far from the downtown district, is this a big issue when it comes to travelling and nightlife?

[Al the Dead]

it isnt far, and while transport is worse then it was, you can still go pretty much anywhere easily.  The only real problem is no subway nearby, closest one is 4 bus stops away.

[Charlie]

amaleki wrote:

Also, I know SWUFE is kind of far from the downtown district, is this a big issue when it comes to travelling and nightlife?

It’s a little bit on the far side. I recommend a bicycle! Great way to get around Chengdu, the traffic in this city can get intense and subway isn’t convenient for everyone due to the limited number of stations.

[Charlie]

Also, with regard to your question about cost of living in Chengdu: it completely depends on your lifestyle, but I would estimate at least 6,000 rmb a month for living costs, including rent. It’s possible to live on much less (as little as 3,000 I’d say) but it’s also increasingly easy to spend more. At a lot of restaurants in the city, for example, a meal with a drink can run you 100 yuan or more pretty easily. Whether you want to live cheaply or spend a lot of money, you can now do both in Chengdu, basically.

[Rick in China]

I’d agree, 6k/mo is probably average including rent/bills for a single foreigner in CD.. although I think a large part of a swing factor on the avg is how much you drink and how often you buy gadgets 😀

[amaleki]

I think 6,000 RMB sounds a little extreme hahaha. That translates into roughly $1,100 CAD and I barely go through $800, including rent. I’m more interested in the relative cost of living. For example, the average night out over here is roughly $30 for a university bar; what’s it like over in Chengdu?

[Rick in China]

There are cheap bars and not so cheap bars… typically on a rager night in Chengdu, I end up down ~100usd, if you just like to chill out and drink cheap beer, you can do that too..there’s no real “average night out” – cheap beer are like $3 and clubs or other places typically around $8, something like that.

[Aaron T]

@rick “typically on a rager night in Chengdu”

Love it haha

[Charlie]

Rick in China wrote:

There are cheap bars and not so cheap bars… typically on a rager night in Chengdu, I end up down ~100usd

Wow, that’s a lot for Chengdu. You must be buying bottles at KTV’s, right? That is like a night out in Hong Kong expensive.

In Chengdu I only get mixed drinks at places like the Lazy Pug. Otherwise it’s Beer Lao for about $3. And that’s twice as much as Qingdao, which in bars is twice as much as Qingdao in 7-11 or other convenience stores.

[Rick in China]

Not really Charlie – but between taxis and drinks, I drink a lot, it adds up quick – I don’t go to Chinese clubs or KTVs (haven’t for ages at least), but if I’m drinkin for a few hours I’ll rip thru drinks at what..30rmb/ea? Throw in transportation and sometimes a late night snack, 600 is around avg.

[Ty]

Make sure you know what campus SWUFE is going to put you at. I did an exchange there and all of my classes and my dorm were at the wenjiang campus which is kinda far from downtown

[Author]

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