Nomad List
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| 🌍 Region | Asia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚩 Country | China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⏱ Average trip duration | 4 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📡 Internet speed | 2 Mbps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛅️ Weather | 🌥 27°C 81°F + 💦 Not humid (50%) + 💨 11km/h = Feels like 28°C82°F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (now) | 😷 82 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎 82 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🔌 Power | 230V50Hz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚕 Best taxi app | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📱 Best wireless carrier | China Mobile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 10 CNY in USD | USD 1.45 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏧 Suggested ATM take out: CNY 1,000 | USD 145 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 Tipping | No | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💳 Cashless society | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💻 Best coworking space | Regus | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ☕️ Best coffee place | Starbucks | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚰 Safe tap water | 🚫 No, contaminated | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♻️ Return rate | 0% of visitors returns | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👨👩👧👦 Population | 3,300,000 people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👫 Gender ratio | 👨 56% 👱♀️ 44% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏠 Apartment listings | Ganji | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Hainan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best int'l air carrier | China Southern Airlines | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| outdoorsfoodcultureno-beachairportwarm nowwarmhotslow internetcheap cost of livinglow crimemany menfriendly people | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💵 Nomad Cost™ | $1,318 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for expat | $1,009 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for family | $2,640 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for local | $754 / month |
| 🏠 1br studio rent in center | $464 / month |
| 🏢 Coworking | $72 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $493 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $23 / night |
| 🏠 Airbnb (128 listings) | $1,269 / month |
| 🏠 Airbnb | $42 / night |
| 🍝 Dinner | $3 |
| 🍹 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
| 🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $3 |
| ☕️ Coffee | $4 |
Based on Kunming's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
My wife and I have been living in Hanoi now for over five months. After having lived in Japan for nine years, KOREA for four months, Kunming, China for four months and Thailand, Cambodia and Malaysia for two months each we’ve decided that Hanoi is our favorite city of all (when factoring in cost of living—and probably regardless of cost-of-living). I don’t agree with the current traffic safety assessment. I walk everyday all Over the city—on average, 10 miles a day and in every direction. I’ve personally witnessed six or seven motorcycle accidents and been hit from behind by a motorcycle while walking, sustaining painful injuries requiring months to heal. I have had direct contact with three other people involved in motorcycle accidents. Love the city and still walk every day, but safe...NO. Meanwhile, I do agree with most of the cost factors I see listed. What amazes me is the assessment that there is “bad nightlife” here???! What?? If all you’re looking for is a place to get drunk and pick up women, maybe. But what I love most about the city is that nightlife is evident in every neighborhood, coffee shop, cafe and on every sidewalk every evening. People are out relaxing, eating, drinking and socializing everywhere I go every night, and in every neighborhood—not just in the “entertainment districts”—which almost always bore me, anyway. So I guess it depends on what kind of traveler you are. Further, this city is resplendent with interesting architecture, historical buildings and monuments, temples, lakes and the rivers, and has a fantastic international community. I’m Caucasian but have interacted frequently with people of all races, and most frequently with the local Vietnamese community. While unfortunately it does seem that Hanoi is not freer of racism than New York, London, Tokyo, Sao Palo, or any other major city in the world I certainly feel that is less racist than many places—just my personal perception. I’ve only spoken with one person in five months (a beautiful Indian woman) who talked about feeling discriminated against, and that was in reference to getting an English teaching job. Yes, it does seem that a white face, even with non-native English, can get hired as an English teacher far more easily than an Asian or person of other racial heritage, even if that person speaks English almost like a native—as this woman did. Ultimately I can only go by my own experience. People have been kind, mostly extremely honest, helpful and friendly and it is the Hanoians themselves who have been mostly responsible for my love affair with this city. The delicious coffee and food and interesting places to walk with no fear of being attacked, accosted or robbed have only helped. Now, if they’d just do something about the air pollution—second worst in Asia by many accounts.
I 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.
I 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.
Great if you have a local connection to guide you, or you are okay paying more for a central hotel or airbnb. 75mbps internet is readily available for residents, and cheap and fast data plans and phones that can hotspot are also doable for work. Plenty of decent pubs, microbreweries, coffee shops and restaurants. Tons of amazing street food. Very few dance club type places and only a few spots for live music, comedy etc. Relatively quiet, but pleasant nightlife. Horrendous traffic, but good metro. Uber works well and loads of English speakers makes life easier here than elsewhere in India. Nearly impossible for a foreigner to get long stay visas let alone residency. But you could max out your tourist visa here and in India in general, though Bangalore is only convenient for being relatively tout free and English accessible with good Internet. Goa, Pondicherry, Mysore or Kerala are much more pleasant overall.
Really 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.
Surprisingly expensive compared to many other places and there is a major language barrier for most western folks. You often end up hanging out with other nomads or expats for sanity. It's expensive to drink, and it's not really to make many local friends and very few speak English or any western languages. The internet is the killer for most folks and China is slowly closing down all the VPN connections from the commercial services, so it's getting harder and harder to find a way out for things like Gmail or even Google searches and even when it does work, it's really unpredictable. Some of the hotels and workspaces have always-on VPN connections to Hong Kong for your internet handoff which eliminates the blocking and is a big help, but this is usually at a cost that is passed on to you. I like Shanghai, but I find it very "showy". People want to make it clear if they have money, so you see lots of flashy cars, expensive clothes and "be seen" places. It's also amazing that you can go to a great restaurant and the table next to you will have six people sitting in complete silence because they are all on their phones. As others have said, you need to figure out a way to get Alipay or Wechat pay money on your account so you can pay for things. Even people selling vegetables in the market have a QR code so you can pay them with your phone. Didi is the local uber-like take service, and you can use western credit cards with it on your phone, and it's pretty cheap by western standards. Public transportation is good and cheap, too. Cool place, but not inexpensive unless you are out a way and a serious language barrier and a bit of indifference to customer service or dealing with westerners in general.
I 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.
Great place. You can avoid the dropshipper, FBA and MLM webinar course people who have infested the coworkings here for years, by, well, just not visiting the coworking spaces here.
It's possible to live in Hong Kong on the cheap. You've got to live far out in the New Territories, or on an outlying island. I spent a summer living happily on Lamma Island for ~$500USD/month in rent for one bedroom in a shared flat. Rent is really the only tricky part--everything else is relatively cheap.
Bangkok has some of the best private hospitals in the world. Which is interesting if you're in Asia a lot and you want medical care better than you can get in your home country. Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok is ranked #7 in the world. I did an executive health checkup there and it was great. Prices range from $250 to $750 depending on how many checks you want. You can get blood count, X Ray, ultrasound, hormone check, etc. They also have most other medical disciplines. I also got vaccinations renewed. The hospital is private so it's so much better than the overloaded public healthcare systems of Europe, Canada and UK where everyone tries to avoid helping you, is overworked and angry. In Bangkok they're super nice and helpful and you can make appointments straight with a specialist. Not blocked by a GP like in your home country.
"omagad they like totally stole my iphone", "it's like the worst, everybody is like so aggressive" welcome to the Real World, maybe you now learn to appreciate your cosy first world country and stop bitching about your oppression and your rights. Ho Chi Minh is an awesome upcoming city. It has an original and still traditional look and vibe to it, interesting colors (check out japanese district) not swamped with brand shops (the local coffee shops dominate starbucks in terms of quality and design and some are open 24h !). The nightlife also has plenty of options and be sure to enjoy the view from a the many rooftop bars in the city. You get to see a city full of energetic, young people growing their country after a devastating war and under an authoritarian regime. You get a choice between older buildings in D1 or totally new apartment buildings in D2 all at great value prices. There are a lot of people coming here to work remotely and also to start businesses. Decent sports facilities readily available (check out mach's gym, UFC center). If you don't want to spend money on the gym you can always do a workout on one of the many parks that have bars for chalistenics available. However, beware the pollution and always wear a mask, especially in D1. This is the biggest con here in my opinion.
Surprisingly expensive compared to many other places and there is a major language barrier for most western folks. You often end up hanging out with other nomads or expats for sanity. It's expensive to drink, and it's not really to make many local friends and very few speak English or any western languages. The internet is the killer for most folks and China is slowly closing down all the VPN connections from the commercial services, so it's getting harder and harder to find a way out for things like Gmail or even Google searches and even when it does work, it's really unpredictable. Some of the hotels and workspaces have always-on VPN connections to Hong Kong for your internet handoff which eliminates the blocking and is a big help, but this is usually at a cost that is passed on to you. I like Shanghai, but I find it very "showy". People want to make it clear if they have money, so you see lots of flashy cars, expensive clothes and "be seen" places. It's also amazing that you can go to a great restaurant and the table next to you will have six people sitting in complete silence because they are all on their phones. As others have said, you need to figure out a way to get Alipay or Wechat pay money on your account so you can pay for things. Even people selling vegetables in the market have a QR code so you can pay them with your phone. Didi is the local uber-like take service, and you can use western credit cards with it on your phone, and it's pretty cheap by western standards. Public transportation is good and cheap, too. Cool place, but not inexpensive unless you are out a way and a serious language barrier and a bit of indifference to customer service or dealing with westerners in general.
The GFW is a *huge* bother in daily work. VPN is not a perfect mitigation as it is throttled and frequently completely blocked (Have tried shadowsocks, outline, lantern, openvpn and expressvpn to about equal success). The VPN availability seems to fluctuate with the political climate (for example if there is a party conference or such). The air quality is so-so. Worst in winter time. The streets seem very safe and their is little crime (Except maybe in tourist areas, beware the scammers). It is super easy to get by with a little English and a translation app. Metro system is super easy to use. Food is fairly cheap, and it can come as cheap as you want... but sometimes of questionable quality.
Mostly great weather year round and some of the best food in the world at cheap prices. Probably the best standard of living for the cost in an international city. Good but not excellent public transport. Some questionable reviews being left here by people who possibly never visited,
Nomad-ed here for a month. A totally ok place if you have the budget for it. Coworking spaces are good, 4g everywhere, transportation is effective. Lots of things to do. I was able to find friends. Lots of international people, very few digital nomads. If you're there, consider not renting in the center (as it gets expensive fast) and being creative with places to eat to find cheap options. Be prepared to use cash unless you live in a luxury.
Spend 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.
I like it here better than Canggu. It's more walkable, more cheap warungs, more convenient. You could find all kinds of shop catering to different type of visitor, from cheap to luxurious. Not a party place if you're looking for it, which made it even more perfect. More female than male, great for dating.
One of the most well known cities, few will be surprised by what they see and experience. Very high cost of living can make it tough for many nomads. A lot of things to see and do but most of that costs money. Can feel overwhelming and oppressively business oriented (ie, full of very serious yuppies and places catering to them), especially in Manhattan south of Harlem. Ton of single people, which is good on paper but means everyone you date will get distracted by another person, or multiple, unless you are extremely exceptional, before you have a chance to meet again, never ends. Weather sucks hard from July to August and January to March/April. It's an okay city if you're a biker and varies a lot. Some areas are quite protected, others have no bike lanes. In general, it can be dangerous if you want to commute by bike, it's not Amsterdam. Friendliness of the people varies a lot. I think income/wealth, where they grew up, where they live within NYC, their job, etc. can often give you an idea of what to expect. Service at stores is usually pretty unhelpful and unfriendly but, again, it varies, even within the same store. Internet is fast for the most part. Great selection of food, just a bit pricey besides some of the cheaper pizza slices. Transportation system is good, no need for a car. However, the subway lines are notorious for having issues during rush hour and are usually jam packed. Also, the stations look decrepit and are way out of date. It's pretty safe. Street scams are more prevalent in tourist areas, pick-pocketing and random phone snatching isn't really anything most people worry about. Can be very noisy depending on where you live. You may wake up to extremely loud construction every morning.
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by levelsio
