I Left The U.S. For Shenzhen, China – Here's How Much It Costs
Bradley Craig, a 36-year-old American, shares his experience living in Shenzhen, China with his family, highlighting the extremely low cost of living, advanced technology, and quality of life benefits compared to the US. He describes monthly expenses including $1,000 rent for a 3-bedroom apartment, $50 total transportation costs, and $100 grocery bills that can fill an entire cart.
Summary
Bradley Craig provides a comprehensive look at his life as an American expat in Shenzhen, China, a city he describes as a fusion of Silicon Valley and New York located in southern China near Hong Kong. Coming from a small 6,000-person town in Colorado, he was initially drawn to China to teach English abroad and ended up staying permanently after meeting his wife from Tahiti during the COVID pandemic. His family now includes two trilingual children who speak French, English, and Mandarin. The cost of living is remarkably affordable - their 3-bedroom apartment costs $1,000/month, monthly transportation is under $50 with subway rides costing 60 cents for adults and free for children, healthcare coverage for him and both kids costs $90/month, and grocery shopping can fill an entire cart for $100. He earns $3,500 as a marketing manager plus additional income from social media, totaling over $4,500 monthly. The city offers advanced conveniences like biometric payments using handprints, delivery robots, driverless taxis, underground mall networks connected to subway stations, and 15-minute delivery services for virtually anything. His children attend school for approximately $300 per semester including meals, and he feels his mental health has improved due to reduced safety concerns compared to America. However, he acknowledges challenges including dangerous scooter traffic, lack of personal space concepts, language barriers, and visa restrictions since China is not an immigration country. Despite these drawbacks, he considers moving to China the best decision of his life and hopes to stay in Shenzhen permanently.
Key Insights
- Craig describes Shenzhen as being like 'if Silicon Valley and New York City had a baby in China' located at the southern point of Guangdong province above Hong Kong
- Craig states his mental health as a father is better in China because he doesn't worry about school shootings or his children being kidnapped from parks
- Craig reveals he can fill an entire grocery cart at Walmart China from bottom to top for $100 American dollars for his family of four
- Craig explains that China is not an immigration country and warns that if you overstay your visa you will be caught and deported
- Craig declares that moving to China was probably the best thing that ever happened to him, leading to meeting his wife and having children he never planned on having
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] I like living in a giant industrialized futuristic city because I grew up in such a small town America. I've never seen something like this before. Yeah. But also the cost of living, the affordable healthcare, the incredible public transportation, the healthy foods, the conveniences, the quality of education for my children. I mean, there's just a lot of benefits I see with living here. My name is Bradley Craig. I'm 36 years old and I'm an American living in Shenzhen, China. [0:38] Now, this is a perfect example of how you can see the contrast between the past and the future in China. So, if you look over here, this goes to Little Nanch Village. As soon as…
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