- Visa (on arrival) - 1000 rmb (each country is different, i think this was US. I paid 200 cdn back home)
- Health check - 480rmb
- Transit card + top up - 200rmb (shenzhen tong)
- Phone - 200rmb (could vary - we went with the cheapest)
- Foreign Expert Certificate photos - 50rmb
- Resident Permit - 400rmb
- Rent (2 months') - 6000rmb
- Deposit (2 months' value) - 6000rmb
- Agent fees (1/2 of rent) - 2500rmb
- Electric, gas, managment fee bills - 500rmb
- Food & Household products - 2400rmb (est. 400rmb/week - could be more if you go out to eat)
Monday, April 10, 2017
Start up costs needed for China (SZ) before and after arrival
One of the most important thing you need to consider when you move to China is your start up cost. It's considerably more than what you need to move to South Korea. I've kept track of some of the costs needed. A lot we had prepared for, but a lot we didn't.
The journey to China (SZ) is marked with many hurdles
A little background on the hectic summer we had before going to China.
- We left Korea at the end of May
- Arrived in Cyprus for 3 weeks to spend time with Neil's parents (my in-laws)
- Traveled to the UK (Sheffield) to attend Nicole and Dale's wedding (new sister and brother-in-laws!)
- Descended upon Las Vegas with family and friends in toll
- Got married with 60+ guests
- Honeymooned in L.A. for 2-3 days
- Returned to Vancouver for 3 weeks
- Embarked on our adventure to China via Hong Kong stopover
We did all of this while preparing for our big move to China! Which meant, packing all the things we'll need (unable to get in China) and making sure all our paperwork is correctly done.
Some of the things we did to prep for our big move included:
- Constant communication with the visa handler to get our invitaion letters, visas, etc. (A separate post on this)
- Purchased a year's subscription to a VPN service (in order to access blocked websites in China such as gmail)
- Purchased and packed clothes for the summer. The weather in SZ is considerably more mild, hot and humid. Clothes are professional looking while able to withstand the constant sweating that will ensue. (It's easy to buy clothes in China, as I have found out unless you are very tall and very big)
- OTC drugs - packed as many as we can - things like cold meds, antihistamine, supplements, ibprofen, etc.
- Packed pictures and personal touches that reminds us of our friends and family
- Notarized, photocopied all our paperwork
- Take passport photos - a lot of them
- Exchanged money (HK and RMB)
And most importantly make sure our suitcase is under the limit.
- We left Korea at the end of May
- Arrived in Cyprus for 3 weeks to spend time with Neil's parents (my in-laws)
- Traveled to the UK (Sheffield) to attend Nicole and Dale's wedding (new sister and brother-in-laws!)
- Descended upon Las Vegas with family and friends in toll
- Got married with 60+ guests
- Honeymooned in L.A. for 2-3 days
- Returned to Vancouver for 3 weeks
- Embarked on our adventure to China via Hong Kong stopover
We did all of this while preparing for our big move to China! Which meant, packing all the things we'll need (unable to get in China) and making sure all our paperwork is correctly done.
Some of the things we did to prep for our big move included:
- Constant communication with the visa handler to get our invitaion letters, visas, etc. (A separate post on this)
- Purchased a year's subscription to a VPN service (in order to access blocked websites in China such as gmail)
- Purchased and packed clothes for the summer. The weather in SZ is considerably more mild, hot and humid. Clothes are professional looking while able to withstand the constant sweating that will ensue. (It's easy to buy clothes in China, as I have found out unless you are very tall and very big)
- OTC drugs - packed as many as we can - things like cold meds, antihistamine, supplements, ibprofen, etc.
- Packed pictures and personal touches that reminds us of our friends and family
- Notarized, photocopied all our paperwork
- Take passport photos - a lot of them
- Exchanged money (HK and RMB)
And most importantly make sure our suitcase is under the limit.
Why we moved to Shenzhen, China
During our final year in South Korea (Gwangju), we looked at what options we have. Neither Neil nor I wanted to continue working in a hagwon (training center) with their long hours and endless prep work. We made a list of what we wanted.
- Normal working hours (less working hours)
- More time to do our own thing
- No late night office hours
- City living - convenient transportation
- Low cost of living
- Good standard of living (clean, convenient, easy access to English if needed)
- Tolerable climate
- Ability ot spend more time together
- A place where communication wouldn't be too hard
- Opportunity to do things other than work
- Large enough foreign expat community
- Good access to foreign food/groceries
We originally wanted to go to Guangzhou, because I've been there before but in the end we chose Shenzhen. Mainly because our recruiter really promoted it and there seems to be more opportunity there. We have never been there and didn't know what to expect. Finding information about China is not easy. They don't exactly have a great reputation in the West. But in the end, it was better than doing the same thing we've been doing. We needed a change.
- Normal working hours (less working hours)
- More time to do our own thing
- No late night office hours
- City living - convenient transportation
- Low cost of living
- Good standard of living (clean, convenient, easy access to English if needed)
- Tolerable climate
- Ability ot spend more time together
- A place where communication wouldn't be too hard
- Opportunity to do things other than work
- Large enough foreign expat community
- Good access to foreign food/groceries
We originally wanted to go to Guangzhou, because I've been there before but in the end we chose Shenzhen. Mainly because our recruiter really promoted it and there seems to be more opportunity there. We have never been there and didn't know what to expect. Finding information about China is not easy. They don't exactly have a great reputation in the West. But in the end, it was better than doing the same thing we've been doing. We needed a change.
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