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| ⭐️ Total score | 8 reviews |
| 👍 Quality of life score | |
| 👶 Family score | |
| 🎒 Community score | |
| 💵 Cost | |
| 📡 Internet | |
| 😝 Fun | |
| ⛅️ Temperature (now) | |
| 💦 Humidity (now) | |
| 💨 Air quality (now) | |
| 💨 Air quality (annual) | |
| 👌 Safety | |
| 👮♀️ Lack of crime* | |
| 🤝 Lack of racism* | |
| 🎓 Education level* | |
| ⚡️ Power grid | |
| 🌊 Vulnerability to climate change | |
| 💰 Income level* | |
| 🙊 English speaking* | |
| 🚶 Walkability | |
| ✌️ Peace (no pol. conflict) | |
| 🚦 Traffic safety* | |
| 🏥 Hospitals | |
| 😄 Happiness* | |
| 🍸 Nightlife | |
| 📶 Free WiFi in city | |
| 🖥 Places to work from | |
| ❄️ A/C or heating | |
| 😁 Friendly to foreigners | |
| 🗯 Freedom of speech* | |
| 👩 Female friendly | |
| 🌈 LGBTQ+ friendly | |
| 🎅 Startup Score |
| 🌍 Continent | Asia |
| 🚩 Country | China |
| ⏱ Average trip length | 4 days |
| 📡 Internet speed (avg) | 14 Mbps ⚠️ Internet in Urumqi is fast averaging 112 Mbps but the Great Firewall slows down speeds to foreign websites by 8x to ~14 Mbps. |
| ⛅️ Weather (now) | ☀️ -10°C 15°F + 😊 Comfy (68%) = feels -12°C 10°F |
| 💨 Air quality (now) | 👎☠️ 170 US AQI = 🚬 🚬 / day |
| 💨 Air quality (annual avg) | 👎😷 75 US AQI = 🚬 / day |
| 🔌 Power | 230V50Hz |
| 🚕 Best taxi app* | |
| 🚑 Travel medical insurance |  Safetywing |
| 💸 10 CNY in USD | USD 1.47 |
| 🏧 Suggested ATM take out: | CNY 1,000 = USD 147 |
| 💸 Tipping | No |
| 💳 Cashless | 💵 No, cash only (esp. for foreigners because WeChat is very hard to set up) |
| ☕️ Best coffee place | Starbucks |
| 🚰 Tap water | 🚫 No, not drinkable |
| 👨👩👧👦 Population | 1,800,000 people |
| 👨👩👧👦 GDP per capita* | $8,126 / year |
| 👫 Gender ratio (population) | 👨 54% 👱♀️ 46% |
| 👫 Gender ratio (young adults) | 👨 56% 👱♀️ 44% |
| 👫 Gender ratio (nomads) | 👨 86% 👱♀️ 14% |
| ⛪️ Religious government | Non-religious |
| 🏠 Apartment listings | Ganji |
| ✈️ Best short-haul air carrier | Hainan |
| ✈️ Best int'l air carrier | China Southern Airlines |
| 💵 Cost of living for nomad | $1,717 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for expat | $1,415 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for family | $3,853 / month |
| 💵 Cost of living for local | $1,101 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel (median price) | $672 / month |
| 🏡 Airbnb (median price) | $1,399 / month |
| 🏠 1br studio rent in center | $901 / month |
| 🏨 Hotel (median price) | $31 / night |
| 🏠 Airbnb (median price) | $46 / night |
| 🏢 Coworking hot desk | $161 / month |
| 🍛 Dinner | $4 |
| 🥤 Coca-Cola (0.3L) | $1 |
| 🍺 Beer (0.5L) | $3 |
| ☕️ Coffee | $3 |
✅ Affordable to live
✅ Very safe
✅ Fast internet
✅ Good air quality usually
✅ Spacious and not crowded
✅ Easy to do business
✅ Safe for women
❌ No freedom of speech
❌ Not much to do
❌ Cold now
❌ Gets very cold in the winter
❌ Too hot in the summer
❌ Bad air quality today
❌ Difficult to make friends
❌ Quality of education is low
❌ Roads can be dangerous
❌ People don't speak English well
❌ Not family friendly
❌ Hostile towards LGBTQ+
❌ People smoking tobacco a lot
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
| Feels | 16-9° freezing | 27-3° freezing | 0° freezing | 6116° cool | 7725° warm | 8228° warm | 9032° hot | 8127° warm | 7524° warm | 5412° cool | 0° freezing | 25-4° freezing |
| Real | 17-9° freezing | 27-3° freezing | 352° very cold | 6116° cool | 7826° warm | 8429° very warm | 9133° hot | 8228° very warm | 7524° warm | 5412° cool | 362° very cold | 26-4° freezing |
| Humidity | damp 78% | damp 77% | damp 80% | nice 49% | nice 34% | nice 35% | nice 31% | nice 35% | nice 32% | nice 50% | nice 66% | damp 79% |
| Rain | dry 15mm | dry 22mm | dry 35mm | dry 14mm | dry 44mm | dry 25mm | dry 27mm | dry 22mm | dry 22mm | dry 31mm | dry 25mm | dry 9mm |
| Cloud | cloudy 50% | cloudy 69% | cloudy 68% | cloudy 56% | cloudy 56% | cloudy 66% | cloudy 56% | cloudy 51% | pockets 36% | pockets 39% | pockets 17% | pockets 44% |
| Air quality | bad 232 US AQI | bad 198 US AQI | bad 154 US AQI | okay 75 US AQI | okay 81 US AQI | okay 73 US AQI | okay 72 US AQI | okay 71 US AQI | okay 75 US AQI | bad 103 US AQI | bad 146 US AQI | bad 180 US AQI |
| Sun | safe 1 UVI | safe 1 UVI | seek shade 3 UVI | safe 3 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | seek shade 4 UVI | avoid sun 7 UVI | avoid sun 6 UVI | seek shade 3 UVI | seek shade 3 UVI | safe 1 UVI | safe 1 UVI |
| Remote workers | 200 people | 200 people | 200 people | 0 people | 0 people | 200 people | 200 people | 200 people | 200 people | 200 people | 0 people | 0 people |
If you'd like to filter destinations based on their climate, try Nomad List's Climate Finder
Based on Urumqi's cost of living, here's selected remote jobs that would cover your costs:
The people are open, warm and enthusiastic with travelers. Service is brilliant (generally) - much better then Europe. WIFI is poor, drivers have one hand holding their mobile and the other on the horn. Really nice "pace" and the diverse ethnicity get along beautifully. This is NOT BORAT land - Almaty is 2.7 million people.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels -5° 23° -4° 24°AQI 249😷✈️1h$1,993 / mo4MbpsPros: Wonderful and friendly people Cheap Green and clean - many parks with big trees in the city center Several modern and nice cafes and bars, especially around Erkindik boulevard Enormous opportunities for hiking - huge and beautiful mountains right near the city. For instance, Ala-Archa national park is just 30 km from center Good opportunities for skiing in winter, especially for freeride, but it might be better to travel to Karakol for this activity Close to Almaty (Kazakhstan), so you can
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels -4° 25° -3° 27°AQI 74✈️1h$1,252 / mo3Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌫 Feels -14° 7° -8° 17°AQI 59✈️2h$1,803 / mo9MbpsNot as bad as it is written here, clearly better than Novosibirsk and Tomsk. Price information is not true.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌫 Feels -9° 16° -5° 24°AQI 29✈️2h$1,951 / mo11Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌫 Feels -13° 9° -8° 18°AQI 29✈️2h$2,187 / mo11Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels -1° 30° -1° 30°AQI 132😷✈️2h$1,557 / moWonderful city, but for Europeans it might be shocking how low the walkability actually is. Everything is spread out far, and the city is beautiful, but the cars are definitely number one priority in the (rather young) Citys Architecture. Yandex taxi or busses will get you around pretty well. In winter you'll spend most of your time in cafes and work from there. I have to disagree with the suggested "best coffee" place. Visit "Kul'tura Diktuyet" in syganak street ten and ask Radmir for a cappucc
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels -18° 0° -11° 11°AQI 22✈️2h$1,754 / mo7MbpsInternet connection is stable. Mobile broadband speed in range of 3-7 Mbps from home (10 km from center of Tashkent), fiber-optics connection is also stable - up to 50 Mbps at the daytime (from 12 pm till 12 am) and up to 200 Mbps at night (from 12 am till 12 pm)
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 1° 34° 1° 33°AQI 171😷✈️2h$1,448 / mo1MbpsBest place for solo travellers. The people here are awesome. Almost no crime against foreigners according to statistics. Give this paradise on earth a try :)
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 4° 39° 4° 39°AQI 51✈️2h$1,093 / mo11Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels -9° 16° -9° 15°AQI 126😷✈️2h$1,956 / mo3Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels -1° 30° -1° 31°AQI 151😷✈️2h$1,934 / mo⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌫 Feels -13° 9° -8° 18°AQI 22✈️2h$1,566 / mo12Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 5° 41° 6° 42°AQI 109😷✈️4h$2,412 / moPros: Wonderful and friendly people Cheap Green and clean - many parks with big trees in the city center Several modern and nice cafes and bars, especially around Erkindik boulevard Enormous opportunities for hiking - huge and beautiful mountains right near the city. For instance, Ala-Archa national park is just 30 km from center Good opportunities for skiing in winter, especially for freeride, but it might be better to travel to Karakol for this activity Close to Almaty (Kazakhstan), so you can
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels -4° 25° -3° 27°AQI 74✈️1h$1,252 / mo3MbpsThe people are open, warm and enthusiastic with travelers. Service is brilliant (generally) - much better then Europe. WIFI is poor, drivers have one hand holding their mobile and the other on the horn. Really nice "pace" and the diverse ethnicity get along beautifully. This is NOT BORAT land - Almaty is 2.7 million people.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels -5° 23° -4° 24°AQI 249😷✈️1h$1,993 / mo4Mbps⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 16° 61° 16° 61°AQI 93😷✈️5h$3,260 / mo1MbpsPretty much near impossible to get by if English is your only language. Couldn't get a Chinese SIM. Experienced Racism in bars / clubs as the only Westerners in there. Bar staff disinterested to serve us and looking down on us. Beautiful skyline very impressive modern architecture but generally a nightmare getting around if you don't speak any Chinese. Wouldn't go again
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 14° 57° 15° 58°AQI 93😷✈️4h$1,685 / moDefinitely 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
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 2° 36° 4° 39°AQI 58✈️3h$2,777 / mo1MbpsI 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, West
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 12° 54° 12° 53°AQI 153😷✈️3h$3,150 / mo🌇 Also went here6 peopleI lived in Chongqing for about 5 years. I mostly love this place but it's not easy for Westerners unless you can speak some Chinese. But with a smartphone you can translate anything you need to say. Chongqing is beautiful, gritty and romantic. Extremely inexpensive and lots of things to do. Beautiful women. Maybe the most unique city in China. Weather terrible in winter and summer. Winter is foggy, rainy and low light while summers are uncomfortably hot and humid. They don't speak standard Manda
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 12° 54° 12° 54°AQI 164😷✈️3h$2,832 / mo🌇 Also went here5 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
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 2° 36° 4° 39°AQI 58✈️3h$2,777 / mo🌇 Also went here6 peopleShanghai 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 d
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 3° 37° 5° 42°AQI 91😷✈️4h$3,434 / mo🌇 Also went here8 peopleSeoul has many good things in every perspective. Safety! IT infra! Food! many shops until night, Super fast Delivery, Kind and fast service, Hip places opens in every minute, Kind & Educated people(Education in Seoul is crazy, almost social issue), and even nature everywhere(huge river, mountains are in the city, you can easily find mountains to climb)
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels -4° 25° -2° 29°AQI 55✈️4h$3,047 / mo🌇 Also went here7 peopleHong Kong is a great city with dense urban areas but also nature and hiking routes only 15 minutes away. There are restaurants for every taste and budget, from the best US fast casual chains to high end Michelin star restaurants. It's also extremely safe, despite recent political instability.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 14° 57° 15° 59°AQI 80😷✈️5h$3,920 / mo🌇 Also went here9 peopleBangkok is a really nice city. I lived 2 weeks in Bangkok and it was a good trip ! People are very nice, smiling and the cost is affordable. Some beautifuls temple, gardens, market etc. Chinatown is a place to visit, and Bangkok is globally clean !
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 28° 82° 28° 82°AQI 85😷✈️5h$2,209 / mo🌇 Also went here7 peopleDefinitely check out The Key (on near Zhong Xiao Dun Hua station) if living here for more than a month. Cafe + Gym + Bar all in one, monthly membership about $50 USD. English-friendly, no contracts. Made my 3 month stay here immensely better with fast wifi in the cafe and it's a great feeling to be able to work out immediately after working.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels 11° 52° 11° 52°AQI 53✈️5h$3,046 / mo🌇 Also went here6 peopleNot gonna lie, I was pretty curious and kinda hyped before I came to Singapore. However, within 24 hours all of my curiosity turned into disappointment. Yes, Singapore is clean by any standards but especially by Asian standards. And yes, you have shopping malls, fancy skyscrapers and free toilets everywhere. But beside from that Singapore is boring and has no soul. It just seems like Singapore tries to copy interesting parts of other countries and their nature. Take Cloud Forest for example wh
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌧 Feels 33° 91° 28° 82°🥵AQI 9✈️7h$5,539 / mo🌇 Also went here7 peopleI visited Prague on more than one occasion and tried something new each time. I really wanted to enjoy it, but unfortunately it turned out to be one of my least favourite cities. Perhaps it was just me, but there was an overwhelming sense of distrust and dislike towards foreigners, you have to try pretty hard to blend in if you want to experience the life of a local & avoid the tourism. I met some wonderful people and and there’s some cool communities to be part of, but another extended stay
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌤 Feels -3° 27° -1° 31°AQI 29✈️7h$3,046 / mo🌇 Also went here6 peopleI was in Munich for 9 months and couldn't get used to the city. It's actually a small town for old and rich people. The flair is not international, but terribly German-conservative. There is neither an interesting start-up nor a tech community. Many people are unfriendly when you speak English. The leisure activities outside Munich (nature) are nice, unfortunately there is not much going on in the city compared to London, Berlin or Barcelona. In Germany, everyone seems to want to go to Berlin, s
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ✈️8h$4,060 / mo🌇 Also went here7 peopleA top city. Everything works, beautiful greenery (hehe), cycling everywhere, happy people, great nightlife... Lots to love about. For nomads? Not a chance. Price of housing is outrageous, and the city is expensive af. They charge you 4.5-5 eur for a capuccino, completely shameless. An hour of public transport is 3 euros. I could go on and on. I'd love to live there, but it's not worth it.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌥 Feels 5° 41° 5° 41°AQI 24✈️8h$6,161 / mo🌇 Also went here6 peopleI've lived in New York City - Brooklyn - for over 20 years. For visiting tourists, the best neighborhood to stay in is NOT Bushwick. Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Ft. Green or Brooklyn Heights is preferable. Plenty of good transportation in those areas - subway, buses or Uber. Easy access to beaches in Long Island and New Jersey. There's plenty to do in NYC. Great restaurants, Broadway plays (!), and in the summer you frequently can catch a free concert.
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety 🌦 Feels 3° 37° 5° 41°AQI 46✈️14h$6,186 / mo🌇 Also went here8 peopleHow did SF get scored #98 on Nomad score? I agree with most of the reviews posted here. I generally work from home, but we recently rented a small conference room for a meeting. It was $250 per hour.. (yes Per Hour... no typos here).
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 12° 54° 12° 53°AQI 25✈️14h$7,169 / mo🌇 Also went here6 peopleI spent 4 months working here during summertime. It's one of the best summers I have ever had in my life. The city is just amazing and offers dozens of outdoor activities. There are so many different places such as parks, lakes, hills, mountains, beaches, etc. Also, you can feel the Californication vibe on every step. I lived in Hollywood and I would avoid this place at any cost. It's just too overrated and won't meet your expectations. Hollywood (esp. West Hollywood) is a big pile of dirtiness
⭐️ All 💵 Cost 📡 😀 Fun 👮 Safety ☀️ Feels 19° 66° 19° 67°AQI 53✈️15h$5,021 / mo🌇 Also went here7 peopleNo members are here right now. If you are, add it as a trip and you'll show up here!
