Destination: China
LONELY PLANET'S OFFICIAL GUIDEBOOK INFORMATION
Money & costs
China used to be incredibly cheap virtually across the board, but it has long become increasingly expensive. However, simply knowing where and how to travel according to your budget means you can live well within your means.
The most expensive destinations are Hong Kong, Macau, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, the eastern coastal provinces and Special Economic Zones (SEZ). Beijing and Shanghai especially can be intolerably dear. You can pay criminal prices if you want: Y45 (US$5.5) for a coffee or Y50 (US$6) for a bowl of noodles at Beijing's Capital Airport, or US$8500 a month for a plush three-bedroom apartment in the capital. Look around, learn to get savvy and get a feel for where locals shop and quickly try to get a sense of proportion; be sensible and cautious about where you shop, and what you buy. Since you're using a new currency, take your time to accurately convert prices. Even Beijing and Shanghai can be cheap if you're shrewd and careful.
Staying in dormitories, travelling by bus or bicycle rather than taxi, eating from street stalls or small restaurants, and refraining from buying anything means you can live on around US$30 per day. Accommodation will take the largest chunk, but in cities where dormitory accommodation is unavailable you will have to settle for accommodation with rates from US$25 to US$35 for a double (singles are rarely available). Travelling through the booming coastal cities and much of east China for less than US$45 per day can be a challenge.
Western China and the interior remain relatively inexpensive. Popular backpacker getaways, such as Yunnan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Gansu, Xinjiang, Qinghai and Tibet, abound in budget accommodation and cheap eats.
Food costs remain reasonable throughout China, and the frugal can eat for as little as US$5 a day. Transport costs can be kept to a minimum by travelling by bus wherever possible or by travelling hard-seat on the train. Train travel is reasonable, and is generally about half the price of air travel. Flying in China is expensive, but those with less time may have to resort to it to cover potentially vast distances.
Mid-range hotel doubles start at around US$35 and you can eat in mid-range restaurants from around US$5. Mid-range comfort can be bought in China for around US$60 a day, making it a neither very cheap nor exorbitant way to see the land.
Top-end travel in China? For US$200 to US$250 per day, you can hit the major attractions of the country staying in five-star hotels (US$100 and up for a double), flying long distances, taking taxis to/from airports, dining on Chinese haute cuisine and enjoying a few drinks in the hotel lobby bar in the evenings. You'll find yourself well catered for, unless you venture too far from the big cities.
HOW MUCH?
Cigarettes: from Y3.5
International Herald Tribune from a five-star hotel: Y23
City bus ticket: Y1
Hour in an Internet cafe: Y2
City map: Y3-5
Litre of petrol: Y3.5
Half a litre of bottled water: Y2
Bottle of beer from corner shop: Y3
Draught pint of local beer from a bar: Y15
Souvenir T-shirt: from Y25
Small/large lamb kebab: Y0.5/2
Lonely Planet recommends World Nomads Travel insurance
