Nomad List
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| 🌍 Region | Asia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚩 Country | China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⏱ Average trip duration | 4 days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📡 Internet speed | 7 Mbps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛅️ Weather | 🌧 26°C 79°F + 💦 Not humid (43%) + 💨 10km/h = Feels like 26°C79°F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (now) | 😷 139 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎 137 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🔌 Power | 230V50Hz | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚕 Best taxi app | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📱 Best wireless carrier | China Unicom | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💸 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 coffee place | Maan Coffee | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚰 Safe tap water | 🚫 No, contaminated | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ♻️ Return rate | 0% of visitors returns | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👨👩👧👦 Population | 3,600,000 people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 😤 People density | 🧘♀️ not busy: 4,800 ppl/km² 14x14m (196m²) space per person | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👫 Gender ratio | 👨 57% 👱♀️ 43% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏠 Apartment listings | Sublet | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | China Eastern | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best int'l air carrier | Air China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏥 Best hospital | General Hospital of Nanjing Military Base | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
😷 Air quality in Nanjing is very bad (139 µg/m³) today: avoid exercising outdoors, close windows and try to stay inside, more info | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| no-beachairportwarm nowwarmhotdirty airbad air qualityslow internetcheap cost of livinglow crimemany menfriendly peopleadult nightlife | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💵 Nomad Cost™ | $819 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for expat | $629 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for family | $1,299 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for local | $371 / month |
| 🏠 1br studio rent in center | $319 / month |
| 🏢 Coworking | $48 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $509 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $24 / night |
| 🍝 Dinner | $2 |
| 🍹 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $0 |
| 🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $1 |
| ☕️ Coffee | $1 |
Based on Nanjing's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I do not recommend London for nomads. It's very hard to find places to work in London. Cafes don't like people with laptops, there won't be any power outlets and you'll get funny stares from staff. That's because London is expensive, and it's a loss for cafes to have you. Flexible coworking is hard to come by and day passes are very expensive. That makes it practically impossible to work properly in London as a nomad.
Nothing does a better job of explaining LA’s beautiful diversity and different neighborhoods than the documentary about the late Jonathan Gold, our city’s greatest amabassador and the only food critic to ever win a Pulitzer Prize. It is called, “City of Gold” and if you want to know LA, just watch this film. Trailer link: https://youtu.be/DmKTRDfz1zM
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