Ok so you are coming to Xiamen.......good choice.....I have been to 11 different cities in China now and by far Xiamen is the most beautiful and cleanest of them. I am not sure who you will be working with so I can't say if they are a good company or not or what wage you will be getting, but I can tell you that if you live a quiet life then you wont spend more than 500 rmb a week........If you like to go out a lot and hit the clubs and eat in western restaurants then you can expect to spend around 1000 rmb and up per week depending..........Wgen i first came here i was making 5000 rmb a month and in 3 months i saved 6000 rmb and all the while i still ate in restaurants (chinese) and played pool went bowling bought dvd's drank beer (mostly at home) and smoked..........so it is cheap..........i'll give you some prices for you to make a better determination of your own expenses.........A simple noodle lunch 6 rmb
.................A Mc'Donalds combo....19 rmb
.................A bottle of beer in a store 3 rmb
.................A pack of smokes 4 to 50 rmb depending....i smoke 4 rmb cigs
.................expensive dinner out maybe 100 rmb each person
.................dvd's from 6 to 15 rmb each
.................music cd's about 13 rmb double disc
.................depending on the area of the island rent can be anywhere from 1000 rmb up to 20,000 rmb a month.....teachers can find a nice place around 1200 to 2000 furnished
........electricity with a/c on a lot 350 rmb a month
........gas maybe 25 rmb a month
........unlimited internet per yr 960 rmb
........water maybe 100 rmb a month
........large 10 litre bottle water 8-12 rmb
........single bottle of water 1to 2 rmb
........good name brand bike (giant) 650 - 2500 rmb
........cell phone (cheap) 300 rmb
........cell phone with all the toys 2000 and up
........phone sim card number for cell 130 rmb

Well thats all I can think of for now.....hope this helps you......oh ya something to bring....Imodium lots of it....and deoderant..though womens antipersperant can be found here.......and finally I would love some Tim hortons coffee a pack of dumauriers .......thats it......good luck and maybe we'll bump into each other one day......Mike B
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