Your Apartment in China: How to Spend Less Than $150 on Your Essentials

I’ve recently moved into my Chinese apartment in Chongqing, China and had to buy some essentials for my new apartment. Lucky for us foreigners, apartments come furnished here. You’ll be supplied with the basics, so no need to worry about buying a bed or a couch to fill up your living room. However, as with moving anywhere, and especially when you’re traveling light, you’re going to have to shell out some money in order to make it livable. Here's how I spent slightly less than $130 on all of my Chinese apartment essentials. 

To give you some background knowledge: I went real bare bones with this apartment. I have a spare bedroom, but the door is always closed and I haven’t bought sheets or a pillow for it.

I also was able to get a few things for free from the school I work at. So I picked up a hair dryer, chopsticks, and a kettle (although the kettle didn't come with the electric plug-in part so I ended up buying my own anyway).  Read on to learn about how to save money and what essentials I bought for my apartment.

Decide What You Need to Prioritize

No one can make these decisions for you, and so if you have different priorities than me your list of items is going to be different. For example, if you really like cooking a variety of different foods, you should invest more pots and pans than I did. 

Bring Multipurpose and Smaller Items With You

Yes, we want to travel light. But it's beneficial to bring things that are useful, obviously. I made sure to bring my sleeping bag because I don't know how I'll be traveling after my teaching program is finished: turns out it also makes a great extra blanket.

My microfiber travel towel serves not only as a good back-up towel while living in my apartment, but also as a floor mat while doing at home workouts. 

Look for Thrift Stores

Unfortunately after a quick search on google for thrift stores in Chongqing, China I couldn't find any near me, and there really wasn't much information at all about them. I'm still on the hunt to find some, so hopefully I'll be able to share those details at a later date. 

Inquire if Other Foreigners are Leaving

If you're in a large city, chances are there are other foreigners leaving to go back to their home country after teaching 1-2 years in China. See if they're giving anything away, or selling any items for cheap. This is one of the best way to get items that you normally wouldn't splurge on (such as extra blankets, a toaster oven, a lamp, etc). 

I was able to get a cactus plant, a pourover coffee set (so no more jerry-rigged tea pot for coffee), some clothes and lots more from foreigners leaving. 

Join Used WeChat Groups + Use Movin

Since there aren't many thrift stores in lots of Chinese cities, the best way to get used items is through localized WeChat groups and Movin', which you can find as a mini program on WeChat. Usually if you ask around to other foreigners in the city you live in, they'll be able to invite you to a used group, such as something like 'Buy/Sell Chongqing Group'. 

Where to Go Shopping in China

Any major city in China is going to have a variety of department stores to choose from. Additionally, there are small little stores on many different streets that will sell particular items, such as cleaning supplies. However, kitchen and bedding will most likely need to be found in a larger store. Malls abound, so my suggestion would be to check out nearby malls: usually there's some type of department/grocery store on the lower ground level. 

Bravo, Carrefour, Mini Sou and Walmart are all options. Mini Sou is adorable and great for items such as towels, silverware, water bottles, make-up, and other miscellaneous items. It won't have any pots, pans, sheets or pillows, though.

I tried my hardest to not go to Walmart for personal reasons. In fact, if I had known that there was a Carrefour near me from the get-go I wouldn't have gone to Walmart at all. Bravo is a grocery store mainly, but does have a smaller kitchen and living section where I found the majority of my kitchen supplies. Many Chinese cities also have Ikea.

Get Creative!

A lot of times you can save money if you buy a cheaper item, or use a free item, in a "creative" manner. 

For example, I received a gym bag from my teaching program with some books and valuable information inside. I really had no use for this bag. So rather than buying a laundry basket, I've just been using the gym bag to hold my dirty laundry. (Also, Chinese apartments come with a laundry machine, although dryers are not common here). 

The Apartment Essentials I Bought in China

Alright, the most important part, which is really what you're looking for. Bear in mind that about 6.8 RMB = $1 USD at the time of writing this. I had to buy the most for my kitchen, since I didn't bring any kitchen supplies with me. If you have a packable camping kitchen set, this would also help you save money. 

Kitchen Supplies

Free: chopsticks

Bought later: Cutting board, 10 RMB

Total: 322.80 RMB

Bedroom Supplies

Extra things brought with me: Sleeping bag as a blanket--I used this for the first month or so until I was able to get some free blankets from foreigners that were leaving the country. 

Total: 228 RMB

Bathroom Essentials

Free: Hair dryer

Extra things brought with me: toothbrush, toothpaste, make-up, hair ties, nail clippers, tweezers, bar soap, shampoo, travel towel.

Total: 110.8 RMB

Living Room/Miscellaneous Stuff

Free: umbrella, water bottle, mop, wet mop (both the mop and wet mop were already in the apartment; I just use the dry mop as a broom and sweep everything out onto the balcony). 

Total: 213.9 RMB

Summary of Costs

Grand Total: 875.50 RMB = $128.75 (used exchange rate of $1 = 6.8 RMB)

This total allows you a little bit of wiggle room if you're trying to stay under the $150 mark. So if you need an extra pot or some more cups, you could fit these in and still spend less than $150. 

Well, there you have it folks! A new apartment in China, now supplied with all your living essentials, for less than $150.