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June 19, 2009

Observations on prices in China

Posted by Gordon Klein

1. Many things are much cheaper here than in the U.S. We had dinner with 15 people last at a nice restaurant. Nobody left hungry. Had 9 large bottles of beer. The total price was about $50 in US money.

2. Most meals in the cafeteria at the university here are under $1, but that may be a little cheaper because they want students to be able to eat there.

3. American things have American prices, though. Converse shoes, Starbucks coffee, KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonald's.

4. A new Mini Cooper is at least $50,000. I think that imported cars have a fairly high tax. This doesn't seem to keep people from driving them. Many people don't drive. There are a lot of ordinary looking cars of many brands, some tiny cars (including a 3-wheeled one), and some expensive ones.

5. Several people in our party are getting suits or dresses made by a tailor. A man's suit is $40-$50.

6. Gas is around $4 per gallon.

7. Nobody takes V ISA except for Starbucks (as far as I have found). Most of our party gets money out of ATM IIt freaks me out a little that that works. Being Luddite enough not to have an ATM card and afraid that the bank fees for this could be exorbitant, I just trade greenbacks for RMB.

8. Having people stare at you wherever you go, take pictures and videos, and say "Hello." Priceless. Some people get tired of this. I haven't been photographed or videoed by a stranger, as far as I know, but I do get stared at a lot. I just pretend I'm famous. So far it's kind of cool.