Nomad List| 🏆 Nomad Score™ | 208 reviews |
| 💵 Cost | |
| 📡 Internet | |
| 😝 Fun | |
| ⛅️ Temperature (now) | |
| 💦 Humidity (now) | |
| 💨 Air quality (now) | |
| 👌 Safety | |
| 👍 Quality of life | |
| 😤 People density | |
| 🚶 Walkability | |
| ✌️ Peace | |
| 🚦 Traffic safety | |
| 🏥 Hospitals | |
| 😄 Happiness | |
| 🍸 Nightlife | |
| 📶 Free WiFi in city | |
| 🖥 Places to work from | |
| ❄️ A/C or heating | |
| 😁 Friendly to foreigners | |
| 🙊 English speaking | |
| 🗯 Freedom of speech | |
| 🤚🏿🤚🏻 Racial tolerance | |
| 👩 Female friendly | |
| 🌈 LGBT friendly | |
| 🎅 Startup Score |
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| 🌍 Region | Asia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚩 Country | China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⏱ Average trip duration | 4 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📡 Internet speed (avg) | 2 Mbps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛅️ Weather | 🌦 12°C 53°F + 💦 Humid (72%) + 💨 9km/h = Feels like 12°C 54°F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (now) | 👍 33 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎 106 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🔌 Power | 230V50Hz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚕 Best taxi app | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📱 Best wireless carrier | China Unicom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 10 CNY in USD | USD 1.42 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏧 Suggested ATM take out: CNY 1,000 | USD 142 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 Tipping | No | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💳 Cashless society | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners because WeChat is very hard to set up) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💻 Best coworking space | Allface | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ☕️ Best coffee place | Starbucks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚰 Safe tap water | 🚫 No, not drinkable | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♻️ Return rate | 0% of visitors return | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👨👩👧👦 Population | 2,500,000 people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 😤 People density | 🤨 busy: 6,000 ppl/km² 13x13m (169m²) space per person | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👫 Gender ratio | 👨 56% 👱♀️ 44% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏠 Apartment listings | Sublet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | China Eastern | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Air China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏥 Best hospital | North American International Hospital | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| historyno-beachairportcoldcold nowclean airgood air qualityslow internetcheap cost of livinglow crimehigh humiditymany menfriendly people | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💵 Nomad Cost™ | $1,326 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for expat | $711 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for family | $1,306 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for local | $373 / month |
| 🏠 1br studio rent in center | $285 / month |
| 🏢 Coworking | $116 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $1,295 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $61 / night |
| 🏠 Airbnb (93 listings) | $1,199 / month |
| 🏠 Airbnb | $39 / night |
| 🍝 Dinner | $3 |
| 🍹 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $0 |
| 🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $1 |
| ☕️ Coffee | $1 |
Based on Hangzhou's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
 | Senior Programmer Analyst UX Develo... @ Edward Jones |
 | Product Designer @ Filestage |
As one of the most livable cities in China, Hangzhou has developed economy and technology, many tourist attractions, an open and inclusive city!
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌦 Feels 12° 54° 12° 53°AQI 33🚕0min$1,326 / mo2MbpsShanghai is a giant city and your experience really depends on a few factors like: 1) where you live in the city 2) do you speak basic Mandarin 3) do you make nice money 4) do you have to use the internet If you can afford to live in Jing'an or the French Concession, you can live a fashionable metropolitan lifestyle like you would in New York City. There's amazing food (Asian, Western and fusion). You'll be surrounded by entrepreneurs, artists, fashion designers and models. Many of whom do speak English. It gets better if you speak basic Mandarin though. You don't need to care about the characters. Just learn to speak, that's important enough. The nice thing about Mandarin is China is so big everyone has an accent, so for Chinese it really doesn't matter so much that you have one too. Depending on how and what kind of money you make, your experience also changes. Like most places in Asia, English teachers are the lowest rank in the hierarchy of foreigners here. Chinese know. But if you're an entrepreneur, even (or especially) an online one, that's high regarded. The problem with working online here is obviously the firewall which can make it very difficult. I've heard good stories about Shadowsocks which seems to work better than regular VPNs. The recent China vs. America tensions are in fact making people slightly more hostile against Western foreigners. But remember this is Shanghai, it's a metropolitan city, they're usually much less xenophobic than out in the country. Mostly Shanghainese are happy to embrace foreigners, become friends with them, as long as they speak English. And as long as you invest a lot of time. Just popping in and out like a nomad isn't necessarily going to work so well with Chinese. Relationships are long-term.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 11° 52° 13° 55°AQI 61😷✈️15min$1,960 / mo2MbpsMain advantage of Vietnam in general is the ease of getting a visa. That's real nice but there are some big problems here. The food is terrible. Bland soups with slippery, boring rice noodles topped with weird stuff like pig's feet are not my idea of a good meal. Neither are sandwiches with fatty mystery meats. Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia all have way better food. The sushi I've had here was also terrible. The city itself is pretty ugly. Every building is the same tall, skinny shape. Overall safety is low and you'll probably end up in a traffic accident if you stay here long enough. It costs more to rent a place and if you're on a low budget you'll likely end up in a home stay or guesthouse when you could have rented an apartment for the same price in another city. Many places have curfews, even as early as 8pm, so make sure to ask your Airbnb about that because they won't bother to mention it in the listing. Stay in D1/D10/D3/D4/Phu nhuan. Avoid Tan phu, D7, D2, Tan binh, and Go vap. Avoid the rainy season.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 46° 115° 33° 91°🥵AQI 71😷✈️3h$1,034 / mo20MbpsI spent most of the trip in Tokyo staying in part of suginami city called Ogikubo. This was really just a vacation for me; I spent most of my time shopping in Harajuku, Shibuya, Shinjuku and Ueno. These places are immense, dense, vibrant and crazy-wealthy. Ogikubo would pass for downtown in almost any definition of a city, but in Tokyo it is sometimes called a suburb (although still part of the 23wards). I also traveled out if Tōkyō: 1 day in the temples in Nikko, and 1 day in Fukuoka for Nakasu and Sumo. I love Ogikubo: the barely-one lane roads with multi family surrounds is both quiet and urban at the same time. All of Tokyo, not just Ogikubo is cleaner than any western city. After seeing the other side of that equation in months in Latin American cities, it was an honest surprise to see a huge city that Is far more clean than those from my home country. Some things are cheap (coffee, humble/normal food) others expensive (cabs/jr, fashion). In attire and customs, you see shades of formality and expressiveness at once that feels both more stodgy and more informal in various ways. Just different, really. Ogikubo exemplifies quiet/ luxurious living to me, and more generally perfect urban density. I do wonder if any other parts of the world I will see will tend to have such small, walkable streets and that much density in a still serene but more affordable form. My apartment was the first story of a converted house, about 125m2 - apparently worth about $1.5m... 1m too much for me, and only somewhat bigger than ideal.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 25° 77° 22° 71°AQI 14✈️3h$3,390 / mo24MbpsEverything just works. The food by Singaporean Hawkers are world-class for a good price too. 👌
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 44° 111° 33° 91°🥵AQI 55😷✈️5h$2,910 / mo84MbpsI live in Rio and unfortunately it's not a good place to be a nomad. Most people don't speak English. Most places don't have WiFi. We can't depend on WiFi and 4g anywhere. They don't work well. It's not safe to walk at night. It's not safe to work in public spaces. The city is very big and transportation is terrible. Besides it's too hot most of the year and its polluted.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 29° 84° 26° 79°🥵AQI 74😷✈️24h$1,976 / mo8MbpsI lived and worked (at a law firm) in Chengdu for about 3 months. I absolutely loved the city! It's so different from east coast China, especially given the Tibetan influences in many areas. I had a company arrange my apartment and registrations, but was a seamless process. I am a white, American male who speaks a decent bit of Mandarin, and I found the locals to be incredibly hospitable. China is general is extremely affordable for a Westerner, and Chengdu offers the luxuries of any large, Western city/metro area.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55°AQI 103😷✈️2h$936 / mo2MbpsShanghai is a giant city and your experience really depends on a few factors like: 1) where you live in the city 2) do you speak basic Mandarin 3) do you make nice money 4) do you have to use the internet If you can afford to live in Jing'an or the French Concession, you can live a fashionable metropolitan lifestyle like you would in New York City. There's amazing food (Asian, Western and fusion). You'll be surrounded by entrepreneurs, artists, fashion designers and models. Many of whom do speak English. It gets better if you speak basic Mandarin though. You don't need to care about the characters. Just learn to speak, that's important enough. The nice thing about Mandarin is China is so big everyone has an accent, so for Chinese it really doesn't matter so much that you have one too. Depending on how and what kind of money you make, your experience also changes. Like most places in Asia, English teachers are the lowest rank in the hierarchy of foreigners here. Chinese know. But if you're an entrepreneur, even (or especially) an online one, that's high regarded. The problem with working online here is obviously the firewall which can make it very difficult. I've heard good stories about Shadowsocks which seems to work better than regular VPNs. The recent China vs. America tensions are in fact making people slightly more hostile against Western foreigners. But remember this is Shanghai, it's a metropolitan city, they're usually much less xenophobic than out in the country. Mostly Shanghainese are happy to embrace foreigners, become friends with them, as long as they speak English. And as long as you invest a lot of time. Just popping in and out like a nomad isn't necessarily going to work so well with Chinese. Relationships are long-term.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 11° 52° 13° 55°AQI 61😷✈️15min$1,960 / mo🌇 Also went here14 peopleReally friendly and social people, laid back, easy to get around, food is good, 4g is great. Heavy clouds for the 4 days I was here in December, which was depressing as hell.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 29° 84° 26° 78°🥵AQI 61😷✈️48min$2,121 / mo🌇 Also went here14 peopleGreat place if you like Korean cuisine and fresh fish in general. Haedong Yonggungsa seaside temple is the absolute highlight. Locals are helpful, too bad 8/10 won't speak english. Young people included! Remember: Uber, Grab, Google Maps won't work in Korea, in favour of Kakao app which is pure garbage and all in Korean. And by the way pornography is illegal.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 17° 63° 18° 64°AQI 23✈️1h$2,066 / mo🌇 Also went here13 peopleSpend a few hours and learn the Korean alphabet (not that hard) and Google some names of Korean dishes + it's spelling in Korean. It will help a lot as most restaurants only have Korean menu's and often without pictures. As mentioned previously on the reviews, it's a little hard to eat alone, but Gimbab Chonguk (김밥천국) is everywhere and 24/7 - no one will bat an eye. Also look for places that "specialises" in dumplings, They are usually "alone-eating" friendly. And so are ramen places as well as Korean "chinese" restaurants - Jajangmyeon (자장면) is very good and super addictive. Bibimbab restaurant places are fine too. Actually, it's not that hard to eat alone in Korea. The "group" meals are generally quite obvious and will be things like BBQ. You'll figure it out. Do Get used to kimchi and spicy food otherwise you'll end up eating the same thing all the time. Be adventurous. Challenge yourself and eat an octopus alive (산낙지). If you're really brave try 보신탕 before authorities close them all - I haven't but a lot of Weagukins (foreigners) secret do. Cafe's generally have really good wifi, as you would expect from one of the most connected countries in the world. Expect to pay $4-6 for a latte and maybe even more at Starbucks. Best cafe's are usually around Hipster areas and Universities. Indie owned cafe's are awesome. Nightlife is great, probably amongst the best in Asia. Can get very expensive especially at night clubs in Gangnam where it would could be like $10 for a beer - in that case you can still get drunk for $2 with soju just outside at 7Eleven. Winters are stupidly cold and summers can be brutally hot & humid. Go between April and June or September to October. They have cherry blossoms in spring which is beautiful and so are the autumn leaves. Lived here for many years. It's a cool place and vastly underrated. Seoul is continuously becoming more expensive and cost of living will soon be comparable with places like Tokyo.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌦 Feels 4° 39° 6° 43°AQI 30✈️1h$2,571 / mo🌇 Also went here19 peopleDefinitely an underrated place for nomads - Huge city with a small town feel. Lots of different neighborhoods to appeal to different types of people: some commercial, some hipstery, some historical, some modern. Food and rent is cheap (and the food is damn good). People are very friendly as compared to other big Asian cities. You can also get easy work as a tutor and make good extra cash. I survived for five months tutoring and doing other English related work for max 12 hrs a week (leaving me lots of time to work on other projects). You could also easily get a full time teaching gig but that defeats the whole nomad idea i guess. My favorite area is Gulou, or the Drum Tower. Old, local style with ancient buildings and some great cafes.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 1° 34° 4° 40°AQI 73😷✈️1h$2,106 / mo🌇 Also went here14 peopleI lived and worked (at a law firm) in Chengdu for about 3 months. I absolutely loved the city! It's so different from east coast China, especially given the Tibetan influences in many areas. I had a company arrange my apartment and registrations, but was a seamless process. I am a white, American male who speaks a decent bit of Mandarin, and I found the locals to be incredibly hospitable. China is general is extremely affordable for a Westerner, and Chengdu offers the luxuries of any large, Western city/metro area.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 13° 55° 13° 55°AQI 103😷✈️2h$936 / mo🌇 Also went here12 peopleChiang Mai has THE WORST AIR QUALITY of any city in the world for >= ~2 months every year (Google "burning season"). So impossible to ever live here permanently, even if you like the place. Also, Thailand is now cracking down on people using back-to-back visas or visa free entries to stay as well (just Google for it on the forums). It was getting harder and harder to stay (before I left) and the vibe wasn't as good as it used to be. Most people have moved onto Vietnam, which is much easier to stay in, much more up-and-coming, and where the authorities are much friendlier towards digital nomads.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 42° 108° 33° 92°🥵AQI 59😷✈️3h$1,127 / mo🌇 Also went here15 peopleMain advantage of Vietnam in general is the ease of getting a visa. That's real nice but there are some big problems here. The food is terrible. Bland soups with slippery, boring rice noodles topped with weird stuff like pig's feet are not my idea of a good meal. Neither are sandwiches with fatty mystery meats. Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia all have way better food. The sushi I've had here was also terrible. The city itself is pretty ugly. Every building is the same tall, skinny shape. Overall safety is low and you'll probably end up in a traffic accident if you stay here long enough. It costs more to rent a place and if you're on a low budget you'll likely end up in a home stay or guesthouse when you could have rented an apartment for the same price in another city. Many places have curfews, even as early as 8pm, so make sure to ask your Airbnb about that because they won't bother to mention it in the listing. Stay in D1/D10/D3/D4/Phu nhuan. Avoid Tan phu, D7, D2, Tan binh, and Go vap. Avoid the rainy season.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 46° 115° 33° 91°🥵AQI 71😷✈️3h$1,034 / mo🌇 Also went here13 peopleDon't believe the prices on here for an apartment. 686 usd/month refers to an apartment in a high class condo, right in the city centre and seconds away from the BTS(train station). Just remember this, people working at supermarkets make 2 usd/per hour. If you want to live like a local, then you can save a lot of money. If you don't mind a 5-10 minute walk from the BTS, then you can easily get a one bedroom apartment for 300 USD per month, in a high class condo, plus with free golf cart service to the BTS station. I have literally gone to a restaurant to pay 8 USD for a meal, when the exact dish was available on the street for only 1 USD and tastes much better. I ate out everyday and went partying a couple of times a week, and my total monthly expenses was still under 1000 usd. TIPS -Gyms are fucking expensive in Thailand. Expect to pay at least 60 USD/month for the gym, which is crazy when you consider the average wage in Thailand is 15 usd/per day. -Vitamins and supplements cost double the price than what you would get at home. Thais do not take supplements. Maybe only foreigners and really rich Thais. People spending 1500 USD per month must be eating steak daily and hanging out at places meant for foreigners.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 45° 113° 34° 94°🥵AQI 81😷✈️4h$1,524 / mo🌇 Also went here18 peopleI think KL will be the next hub for nomads. It's affordable, safe, convenient, has decent Internet and has decent weather. (Yes it's hot during the summer but it gives you a good reason to be inside and get your work done) Mostly it's quite chill, not as hectic and messy as other major SEA cities like Bangkok, Hanoi and Jakarta. There's not that much to do, but Malaysia has wonderful nature and getaway places, accessible with cheap AirAsia tickets from KL.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 51° 124° 34° 94°🥵✈️5h$1,308 / mo🌇 Also went here14 peopleEverything just works. The food by Singaporean Hawkers are world-class for a good price too. 👌
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 44° 111° 33° 91°🥵AQI 55😷✈️5h$2,910 / mo🌇 Also went here19 people"Don't go to Jakarta" is what people from Jakarta tell you. But you do. It can't be that bad, right? Then you arrive. Although "arriving" is a big word for getting stuck in traffic first for hours. When you do finally arrive in your apartment, you open the windows and wonder why you can't see further than 10 meters. It must be a foggy day? No, it's not fog, it's smog, and it's an every day occurrence in Jakarta, a city that is now competing with Beijing for worst air quality in the world. What's good about Jakarta? It's one of the few places in Indonesia (except maybe Bali) that's open-minded. Jakartans are friendly, helpful and warm acting as if Jakarta is still just a small Indonesian village and that's great. It's also one of the fastest growing cities in Asia. It's cosmopolitan. But all that doesn't weigh up to the negatives that is Jakarta right now. Clean up the air, fix the traffic, and Jakarta might be liveable in a decade. "Don't go to Jakarta" is what people from Jakarta tell you. They're right.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 51° 124° 36° 97°🥵AQI 73😷✈️6h$1,250 / mo🌇 Also went here12 peopleI have been living in London for over 2 years as a student. It's ridiculously expensive. However, there are options. What I like about the city is you can find many events anytime you want. It's active all year 24/7. There are so many foreigners and tourists which make the living more vibrant and less racist. London has sub-communities which I think is a good thing. Those communities bring their cultures, ethics and foods. Public transportation and restaurants are great. I used to spend 3-4 hours in Costa or Nero cafe without interruptions. Though if it's raining or summer season it could be hard to stay long. On the negative side, the UK suffers from slow and old bureaucracies making life difficult sometimes. It's not easy to open a bank account or to rent. The government systems are slow. Also, you will feel depressed in winter when the sunset is before 4pm and the temperature is 0c. All in all, everything is great about the city except the affordability and the winter.
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 7° 45° 8° 47°AQI 38✈️12h$4,090 / mo🌇 Also went here14 peopleBest city in the world! You can certainly live the Nomad life in NYC for a lot less than 5k a month! I've been doing it since December 2018 for around $2500/mo. AirBnB is the way to go!
🎒 Nomad 💵 Cost 📡 Internet 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 4° 39° 6° 44°AQI 26✈️16h$4,945 / mo🌇 Also went here13 people✅ Affordable to live
✅ Very safe
✅ Good air quality today
✅ Easy to do business
✅ High quality of education
✅ Great hospitals
✅ Very safe for women
✅ LGBT friendly
❌ Very slow internet
❌ Pretty slow internet
❌ Not much to do
❌ Gets very cold in the winter
❌ Humid now
❌ Bad air quality usually
❌ Not many nomads go here
❌ Feels crowded
❌ Difficult to make friends
❌ Roads can be dangerous
❌ Freedom of speech is weak
❌ Not very democratic
❌ People don't speak English well
❌ People smoking tobacco a lot
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