Originally Posted by
amerikajin777
Hey Errybody,
I'm going to BJ at the end of this month for work but will have two weekends there (and evenings of course). Having only gone to HK before, i'm having a really difficult time trying to figure out how much i'm going to spend there.
I remember going to Thailand and it seemed that i could have a feast for almost nothing and then going to Japan and a lunch for less than $20 was really hard to find. Where does Beijing fall in that? How much does a nice dinner with a beer or two cost?
Also, i'm hoping to get some custom tailored shirts. I've heard of people bringing one in to 'copy,' but i'm a little confused. My favorite shirt is a Burberry, and i was thinking about bringing it to 'copy' but i'd want the copy to be my perfect size. Does this happen?
Well, BJ was listed as the most expensive city for expats to live in the world in the mid 90s, but I think a lot of that was driven by the fact that foreigners were only allowed to live in approved housing at the time, which fetched a substantial premium.
In more practical terms, Beijing is substantially cheaper than Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo. I spend around $50 per day in Beijing on food, drinks, taxis, entertainment. I try to do the same in Shanghai, but end up having to put more effort into using coupons and/or happy hours in order to make budget. But, $50 in BJ is usually permits a relatively care free style, and can even fund some relatively nice dinners (e.g. Yotosuba) if you can conserve in other ways.
I've never had great luck with shirts in BJ. Places like Lisa's make decent looking shirts for y100 a pop, but these don't last very long. Meanwhile, the higher end places in the CBD produce better products, but the quality/price ratio is inferior to many of the shops in Kowloon with which you are probably familiar. Copying a Burberry design is pretty easy for most tailors, good or bad. You just have to pick the fabric that is closest to you desired preferences.
There is at least one thread in this forum that discusses this issue in detail, though we don't seem to have any consensus favorites any more.
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