We have friends living in China and they recently sent me an email telling me about their daily life there. One comment stood out to me as quite interesting and appropriate for FMF:
In other unrelated news, the price of a small box of Cheerios is now 74 RMB or $10.80. On the other hand, seven seasons of the TV show M.A.S.H. are available on the street for 30 RMB or $4.37. So, we may have lived in China for two years, but life here remains unpredictable and incredibly interesting!
Ha! I guess like anywhere there are some good deals and bad deals to be had in China. ;-)
I have been to China several times (including this past October) and will be traveling there again in September. Most food items that we find in America, that are now available in China, are made with a Chinese partner company. I found most items to be less expensive there as well. However, there are occasions that some items can be substantially more. I am not sure why his Cheerios was so high. I was able to buy a box for under $1 from the Lotus store (similar to Wal-Mart) last time I was there.
DVD's are cheap and they are everywhere. Yes, they are most likely pirated versions.
The best buys for us is stocking up on Children's clothes an shoes. Most clothing bought here is made in China, so you find the same stuff over there. Girls dresses and shoes average around $3 each.
Posted by: Jim | August 05, 2008 at 12:57 PM
The DVDs are definitely pirated. Unfortunately China doesn't really bother to enforce copyrights and pirating is rampant in China.
Jim
Posted by: Jim | August 05, 2008 at 01:18 PM
There's one reason food is so expensive: you can't pirate Cheerios!
Posted by: BW | August 05, 2008 at 01:59 PM
Why eat Cheerios in China? The key to low-cost living in China or anywhere else is to "go native", or at least be flexible.
Cheerios or other Western cereals aren't all that popular, although P&G and other companies are trying. You can buy them at Walmart or Carrefour - Beijing and Shanghai have several of these - in large boxes at decent prices if you have to have them. Milk is a bit trickier, especially if you like low-fat milk as most Chinese milk is non-pasteurized whole milk, but you can get it.
When I lived in China, I ate baozi or Chinese fried bread sticks for breakfast, with hot sweet soy milk for dipping. It's actually quite good. For quick food, I preferred frozen jiaozi.
I'd sometimes make PB&J sandwiches; Chinese peanut butter is quite good and vastly cheaper than the tiny bottles of American brands sold there. The trick to finding it is that peanut butter in China is sold in the part of the supermarket where oils and condiments are sold as it's used in numerous Chinese dishes as an ingredient, but rarely eaten as a "spread".
Shopping in China isn't all that hard as most grocery items have English or at least PinYin romanizations on the labels for the item - learn the PinYin for what you're looking for and you'll be fine.
It sounds like the original poster is living in a "foreign compound" where things are hugely expensive. He should get out more :)
Posted by: Foobarista | August 05, 2008 at 06:49 PM
Cheerios is expensive because nobody eats cereal for breakfast in China. Super low demand for imported foreign food is expensive for sure. Low demand also is an reason for that there is no pirate Cheerio over there. After all, cereal is not that hard to fake, if Chinese can make money from it. The comparison from the article tells nothing about China. At least, I know that you have a good meal in Beijing for $1.
Posted by: lazy cat | August 12, 2008 at 04:51 PM