FINANCE - Living Abroad in Beijing - page 284

delivered to your personal residence, especially if you have chosen standard postal deliv-
ery—it's shocking how many things never arrive. Instead, always have things delivered to
a workplace, and always choose a courier option. Couriers in Beijing are excellent and it's
rare to have problems. A minor difficulty is that they typically speak no English, so if your
Chinese is just as good, include the cell number of a Chinese person in the delivery instruc-
tions.

WHERE TO SHOP FOR WHAT
Wherever you work or live in Beijing, there is bound to be a shopping mall within walking
distance. New malls are incessantly opening, and each new one seems to compete with the
last one for size and collection of retailers. The major malls to shop in these days include
Lane Crawford, Shin Kong Place, Joy City, Solana, The Place, The Malls at Oriental Plaza,
APM, Indigo, Taikoo Li Sanlitun, and newcomer Galaxy SOHO.
The exciting, and possibly frustrating thing about Beijing, however, is that there is ac-
tually a world of less-obvious places to shop—small streets in a unfamiliar parts of town,
online shops, markets that only the locals seem clued in about. It's something that makes
this an unendingly fascinating city. Expect to routinely be told about a hidden gem that you
can't believe you didn't already know about. Beijing is not only filled with bustling mar-
kets, it is also dotted with streets and areas that have gradually developed over the years
into the it place for a given item. Gulou Dongdajie, for instance, is the place to go for gui-
tars and many other musical instruments. Wusi Dajie is the place to go for art supplies and
framing. The streets around Yongdingmen Waidajie are where to go for all manner of sta-
tionery. And Malian Dao, also known as Tea Street, is, well, you can guess.

THE COST OF LIVING IN BEIJING

HOME
Salary RMB 4,000 - 60,000 / month

Rent RMB 2,000 - 60,000 / month

Electricity bill (apartment) RMB 100 - 200 / month

RMB 25 - 50 / hr or 3,000 / month

Ā yí (housekeeper)

FOOD AND DRINKS
Dinner at a Western restaurant RMB 150 - 500 pp

Dinner at a local restaurant RMB 40 - 80 pp