This is the page for the pricewatch in Chengdu. We follow the prices of some common items, too see the cost of living in Chengdu. Currently the average cost of living in Chengdu is much lower than that of Shanghai or Beijing. The prices mainly come from Chengdu, but I'll try to include something from other places also in Sichuan.
All the prices are in China Yuan Ren Min Bi (CNY, RMB, ¥). Good site for exchange rates is XE. On the average, for Euro prices divide by 10 and for US$ prices divide by 8. General rule in Sichuan and Chengdu is that anything can be bargained. The smaller the shop, the more you can get off the price, but beware that not all sellers are completely honest. Anyway I usually bargain when buying clothes and always when buying electronics etc. Originally this list appeared on my personal blog, but now I try to keep both updated at the same time.
Availability
What is available in Chengdu? If we're talking about western products, generally everything is available, if not a specific brand then another one that does the same. For example you can get Pepsi, but if you want Dr. Pepper you have to either buy it at a western food restaurant or from some import shop. There are a few import shops around Chengdu, most of them specialized to a certain country/region. For example from one shop you can buy Korean goods, from another US goods. Then there is the largest supermarket, or a chain of them, in Chengdu: Carrefour. This french supermarket sells all the normal Chinese products or produced in China products, but every shop has also a section for imported products. These range from French butter to American pop-corn and ofcourse the various imported alcohol products, such as Absolut and Finlandia vodkas . So in a nut-shell, if you want to cook some western-food, first head to Carrefour.
Eating
The generel level of prices here in south-west China is cheap. Eating local food only, you could manage by 10¥ RMB a day, that's €1 Euro! Now if you choose to make your food yourself, it will be even less than 10¥. Eating at a nice restaurant can cost from 30¥ to 150¥, for a dinner for two. In Chengdu there are a lot of different Chinese restaurant. You can get everything from Beijing Duck to Hong Kong dumplings. Also plenty of western food restaurants, my favorites are:
- Grandma's Kitchen - Various
Main at KeHua north road with others around south Chengdu. Good selection of different types of dishes. Famous for their sandwiches, but I really like their Italian foods.
- Peter's - Tex-Mex
Near Grandma, down the same road. Specialized at mexican foods, but also other types.
- Houcaller - Steak House
At Ren Min south road, near the Jin Jiang hotel. The place to go to if you want a good steak. Fast food type, cheap and large dishes.
- Coffee Beanery - Coffee
Kehua Bei road, Fangcao Street & all around Chengdu. Not for the food they serve, at here you can get the best Latte's and Cappucino's
- Starbucks - Coffee
North end of Chun Xi Lu, Western Tower street level. Starbucks finally came to Chengdu this autumn
Also the normal fast food chains such as McDonald's, KFC, Subway and Pizza Hut are available all over Chengdu.
Pricelevel
Mobile-phones generally are a bit cheaper here, specially if the product was designed for the local markets. On the other hand Samsung D500, a top class phone, it's Chinese market version D508 costs €100 Euros more here, for a reason beyond me.
Main list
ElectronicsMobile-phones, computers, mp3-players, etc.
- Apple iPod Shuffle, about 1000¥
- Apple iPod Nano, about 2000¥
- Apple iPod Video 30Gb, about 3000¥
- Apple Mac Mini, starting at 4900¥
- Normal PC's, starting at 2000¥, without monitor
- Normal PC's, starting at 3000¥, with 17" monitor
- Laptop PC's, starting at 3000¥
- MP3-player, 128Mb, starting at 150¥
- MP3-player, 256Mb, starting at 250¥
- MP3-player, 512Mb, starting at 400¥
Prices for non-brand mp3 players. Anything with a quality brand-value, such as Yepp, double the prices.
ConsumerGroceries, fruits, dining, restaurants, etc.
- Pizza Hut, 9" pizza, about 55¥. 12" pizza, 75¥
- McDonald's, Any set meal, about 20¥
- Pepsi or Coca-cola, 2.5 liters bottle, 7¥
- Pepsi or Coca-cola, 0.5 liters bottle, 2.5¥
- Eating at a small noodle/rice restaurant. Generally you don't get a lot of meat with these dishes. On the other hand, you can get a lot of lajiao and huajiao for a spicy and numb making lunch experience :wink::grin:
Small, 3¥ or large, 6¥.
- Beijing Duck, a dinner for two at a good restaurant, at least 40¥
- Western food, at any of the normal foreign food restaurants, starting at 30¥
EntertainmentDVD's, games, cinemas, etc.
- Sony PSP, import, 1400¥
For a non-hacked version, original games only.
- Sony PSP, Hacked import, 1600¥
Can play copies and originals bought in China.
- Sony PSP original games, starting at 300¥
- Sony PS2, std edition, about 1400¥
- Sony PS2, slim edition, maybe 100-200¥ more
- Xbox, std black edition, HK or US import, about 1400¥
- Xbox, any limited edition, HK or US import, about 1750¥
- Xbox 360, Premium edition, JP import, about 3000¥
- Nintendo DS, Japanese import, about 900¥
- Nintendo DS Lite, Japanese import, about 1400¥
- Nintendo DS original games, starting at 300¥
- Nintendo GBA, JP/HK import, about 600¥
- Nintendo GBA SP, JP/HK import, about 700¥
- Nintendo GBA SP Micro, JP/HK import, about 750¥
- Nintendo GBA/SP games, starting at 30¥
- DVD movies, originals, starting at 25¥
- DVD movies, quality counterfeits, single-layer discs 5/6¥, dual-layer discs 10/12¥
- Any counterfeit games sold on DVD's, 4-7¥
- Cinema tickets, 15-65¥
Update: 65¥ is now the highest price for a cinema
TravelPlane/train/bus tickets, hotel prices, etc.
Generally all ticket prices and availability changes a lot during different seasons and holidays.
- Normal 2/3-star hotel in Chengdu with double or two beds, 80 - 200¥.
- Any youth/travel hostel with a shared room, one bed, 30-50¥
- Train ticket to Beijing, soft sleeper. Slow train (36h) at 250¥, express train (24h) at 400¥.
- Plane ticket to Beijing, 1000¥ without usual discounts.
Off-season discounts are upto 60% off.
- 5 day trip to Xi'an, about 800-1500¥ Changes according to season & method of transportation
- 5 day trip to Hong Kong, about 2000¥ Changes according to season
- 5 day trip to Shanghai & nearby cities, under 2000¥ Changes according to season
- 8 day trip to Thailand, about 2000¥ Changes according to season
- Petrol, 1 liter, about 4.2¥ Price in Chengdu at May 2006
MiscAnything else
- Broadband internet, ADSL or cable at 0.5Mbps, 98¥/month
- Broadband internet, ADSL or cable at 1.5Mbps, 138¥/month
- Internet-cafe, 2-4¥/hour
If you have any requests, please post them in the Comments or Forum and I'll try to check out the prices.
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