Wednesday, 05 August 2009
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Was I A “Big Spender”?
The day before yesterday my wife and I crossed the border to visit China as tourists. Because of the difference in income of people in the two places, a poor man in Hong Kong may be considered as a rich man in China.
After going through immigrations, we took a taxi to go to a hotel. After about 15 minutes’ ride (there was not traffic congestion) we arrived at the hotel. The taxi fare was just 45 yuans (about US$6.50). We had dinner at a high-end Chinese restaurant. We ate a dish of chicken, a dish of sweet and sour fish head, a dish of steamed fish, a dish of vegetable (treated with fermented bean curd), and two bowls of rice (one bowl for each person), etc., with appetizers before the main course. The dishes were delicious and we were full after spending just 200 yuans on the food (about U.S.$29, that is, U.S.$14.5 for each person).
These are not expensive by Hong Kong standard. Are they expensive by U.S. standard?
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About the Author
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- From: choyshinglin@xanga
- Name: Prime
- About Me: 6 things about me: 1. 53 years old 2. male 3. married 4. teacher 5. speak Cantonese, English 6. I am Chinese (Hong Kong)
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Comments (9)
It's pretty normal to spend that much on food here. Though, it seems like whenever that much is spent on a meal for just me, I get a lot less. :P That sounds like a pretty good deal compared to some of the stuff I've paid $15 for.
I wouldn't say it's that expensive. It's pretty normal.
thats actually pretty cheap by american standards, i think.
I'm from NYC, and that is pretty cheap, when I was in Shanghai, on our last night there my cousins/family from there, as well as my family that came with me from New York went to some restaurant, ordered a bunch of beer/appetizers, and a bunch of dishes, the total came out to about $10 a person, I was shocked, I ended up covering the whole bill as it was our last night there, and I did not take them out to thank them for showing us around yet, they thought I was a pretty big spender, to me I can eat dinner alone here and it would cost me $10, without any appetizer or beer or anything, in fact, if I walk into a higher priced place here, the beer itself would cost from $8-10.
that's between normal and cheap in the US, depending on where you go.
Most meals are about that.
Cheap?
In the south, for those of us who can't really afford to eat out all that often, $15 a person is the high end of cheap, if that makes any sense at all. I generally try to stay around $7-8, but i wouldn't balk at $15. $15 sounds about right for people who eat out regularly.
200 yuans for 2 people in China, it's normal price in Beijing.
$10-20 CAN per person in Canada, it's normal.