Nomad List
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| 🌍 Region | Asia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🚩 Country | China | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 📡 Internet speed | 1 Mbps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛅️ Weather | 🌥 34°C 94°F + 💦 Dry air (25%) + 💨 11km/h = Feels like 33°C91°F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (now) | 😷 114 µg/m3 equal to 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 🚬 / day | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎 129 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 | 5,700,000 people | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 😤 People density | 🧘♀️ not busy: 9,250 ppl/km² 10x10m (100m²) space per person | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 👫 Gender ratio | 👨 51% 👱♀️ 49% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 🏠 Apartment listings | Ganji | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Hainan | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ✈️ Best int'l air carrier | China Southern Airlines | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
😷 Air quality in Shenyang is very bad (114 µg/m³) today: avoid exercising outdoors, close windows and try to stay inside, more info | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| outdoorsfoodcultureno-beachairportwarm nowwarmhotdirty airbad air qualityslow internetcheap cost of livinglow crimelow humiditymany menfriendly people | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 💵 Nomad Cost™ | $1,147 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for expat | $766 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for family | $2,219 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for local | $634 / month |
| 🏠 1br studio rent in center | $308 / month |
| 🏢 Coworking | $72 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $498 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel | $23 / night |
| 🏠 Airbnb (61 listings) | $794 / month |
| 🏠 Airbnb | $26 / night |
| 🍝 Dinner | $3 |
| 🍹 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
| 🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $3 |
| ☕️ Coffee | $4 |
Based on Shenyang's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
Very good, Glorious leader Kim Jong-Un helped me see the true beauty of TRUE KOREA.
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.
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.
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.
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.
There is a new coworking space called FreeSpace that is only $49.99 per month and offers access to all three locations (Kits, Chinatown, Yaletown). The way it works is FreeSpace partners with local restaurants that are only open in the evenings and transforms them into unique, comfortable and affordable drop in coworking spaces during the day while the restaurant is closed. The don't have private boardrooms or phone booths for confidential exchanges, but they do have free coffee, outlets at every seat, and super fast Wifi (300mbps- I was surprised!). It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles that a lot of other coworking spaces available but if you are just looking for somewhere to stop in, grab a coffee, and get to work, this is an excellent alternative at a fraction of the cost. Check it out www.thisfreespace.com
Hipster capital of the world
A mixture of piss, weed, unwashed nerdy men, overpriced reality estate, passive-aggressiveness, homeless people and freaks
Amazing nightlife and possibly the best overall food scene in the states (lots of michelin-level restaurants at far lower prices than NYC/SF). Avoid the winter and you'll love your time Chicago. It's a city of neighborhoods, so do some research to find which area suits you best. Lots of creative types live/work in the west side (West Loop, Wicker Park, Bucktown, Logan Square, etc.)
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
