First time in china
- Thread starter zaheado
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Most of things are cheaper in Singapore from my experiences in Shanghai, Beijing should be similar. Or other big cities. There are probably cheaper things which local people will know how to find but not you the first time traveller.
Things are indeed cheaper in small towns but then the quality of goods may not be as good.
For my 4 day business trips to Shanghai in 2017, I brought RMB2000 but in the end I spent less than RMB500 in Shanghai just to buy some food stuff for family and colleagues. My hotel and hotel breakfast was paid using company credit card and dinners were covered as well by my colleagues so my cash needs are low. Still it is much lower spent than the trips to US where we can spend US$500 or more just for the outlet shopping in a few hours cause everything is cheaper than Singapore for branded stuff.
Still 5000 RMB cash (roughly S$1000) for a week should be more than enough unless you do a lot of shopping, assuming flight and hotel stay are paid through credit card.
On the other hand it is hard to predict for shopping. Local Shanghai colleagues mostly do online shopping except fresh food items because physical shops are more expensive.
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SibehHL
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Really depends on what your intentions are.
An average meal for 2 in Beijing cost around RMB500; eg had hotpot meal recently with my wife in a neighborhood restaurant and bill came out to RMB400 plus, without alcohol. A roast duck meal from one the established joints can easily cost RMB 1K but McDonalds meals will be average RMB40-50.
For the brave & uninformed, one can always try street snacks for RMB10 from an unlicensed street vendor. My advice is to always patronize a restaurant or shopping mall food court.
Same for shopping; buy jade?
If just normal shopping for clothes at big malls then the prices are around the same or slightly more expensive than Singapore. If you don't like to carry too much cash, can opt to use WeChat wallet if you have one.
It depends on what you want to do!
The Chinese are very rich these days and there are plenty ways to spend a lot of money, if you care for that.
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