🇨🇳 3 cities in China, sorted by daily travel budget. Not the exchange rate — how cheap it feels on your own income, and where a price becomes a rip-off. Updated September 2026
| City | Per day | Per month | Local meal | Coffee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇳 ChengduBig city | $103 | $1,909 | ¥25 | ¥25 |
| 🇨🇳 BeijingBig city | $133 | $3,066 | ¥32 | ¥28 |
| 🇨🇳 ShanghaiBig city | $147 | $3,566 | ¥36 | ¥28 |
Per day = one mid-range night + three meals, a coffee and two taxi rides. Open a city for item-by-item prices, rip-off thresholds and live traveler reports.
With a mid-range room, between $103 and $147 a day depending on the city — about $128 on average. Hostels and local eateries cut that by 30% or more.
Short-term rental plus living costs runs $1,909–$3,566 by city, about $2,847 on average.
By daily budget, Chengdu ($103/day) is the cheapest and Shanghai ($147/day) the most expensive.