What Life Costs in China: Small Apartment Living & Walmart Grocery Shopping After Work
About this video
This video explores the cost of living in Shenzhen through the eyes of an average office worker. The host shows a compact but tidy apartment, pointing out the rent and utility bills. Then comes a trip to Walmart after work, where the camera lingers on price tags for vegetables, meat, and household items. The total grocery bill is surprisingly low compared to many Western cities. The video is not about luxury—it is about making ends meet in a megacity. The tone is practical and grounded, helping viewers understand how far a salary goes in China. It is a useful reality check for anyone curious about daily expenses.
Video transcript
mixing meat and veggies dry shrimps add Chinese sausage It feels satisfying... seeing everything come together. The kitchen area is small ... I have to cook rice here Rice is ready I use gloves, it's much easy now mix together Shaping the meat into small balls. Cooking makes me very relaxed Time to wrap the filling. They make noodles by hand. After work,I want go to Walmart for weekly grocery shopping. It's about 6 km from where I live. There isn't one nearby. So I try to buy more for daily life in China Matcha Coffee – 13.99 RMB ($1.96 / €1.82)
Toothpaste – 19.99 RMB ($2.91 / €2.49) Bleach – 21.90 RMB ($3.07 / €2.85) Walmart opened its first store in Shenzhen in 1996 Laundry Detergent – 39.99 RMB ($5.60 / €5.20) Toilet Cleaner – 9.99 RMB ($1.40 / €1.30) Plastic Wrap – 15.90 RMB ($2.23 / €2.07) Wet Wipes – 6.90 RMB ($0.97 / €0.90) Prices feel still reasonable. Clothespins – ¥9.90 ($1.39 / €1.29) I walked into the kitchen section. Wok – ¥559 ($78.26 / €72.67) I always stop here for a while... Rice Cooker – ¥399 ($55.86 / €51.87) In north China, I don't use
this much... Juicer – ¥139.90 ($19.59 / €18.19) Even though… my kitchen is very small. I still like looking at these things. I always dream renting a house, that kitchen has gas Electric Steamer – ¥399 ($55.86 / €51.87) I wonder, if you also use steam to cook food? Induction Cooker – ¥299 ($41.86 / €38.87) Yesterday I ordered this, second hand one online I will use it to cook the food later Sometimes I imagine… what my future kitchen might look like... Chicken Feet – ¥19.99 ($2.80 / €2.60) We Chinese poeple love chicken feet...
Lay's (Cucumber Flavor) – ¥5.90 ($0.83 / €0.77) is this flavour available in your country ? it is my favourite one Lay's (Texas BBQ) – ¥5.90 ($0.83 / €0.77) Chips (Avocado Flavor) – ¥8.90 ($1.25 / €1.16) Lay's (Lime Flavor) – ¥7.90 ($1.11 / €1.03) Cut Fruit (Melon Mix) – ¥16.99 ($2.38 / €2.21) Ready to eat. Very convenient. Blueberries made in China– ¥15.00 ($2.10 / €1.95) Chicken Wings – ¥17.99 ($2.52 / €2.34) Beef (Discount Price) – ¥30.48 ($4.27 / €3.96) Ground Meat – ¥11.85 ($1.66 / €1.54) Ready Meal –
¥15.99 ($2.24 / €2.08) Dumpling Wrappers – ¥4.00 ($0.56 / €0.52) Mushrooms – ¥2.00 ~ ¥18.00 ($0.28–$2.52 / €0.26–€2.34) Frozen Dumplings – ¥9.99 ($1.40 / €1.30) Frozen Vegetables – ¥15.00 ($2.10 / €1.95) Just walking slowly... no rush today. French Bread (Discount) – ¥6.99 ($0.98 / €0.91) I didn't plan to buy it... but it looked nice, and good discounted price Milk /1.69L– ¥18.99 ($2.66 / €2.47) Grilled Chicken – ¥19.99 ($2.80 / €2.60) Dry Shrimps – ¥19.99 ($2.80 / €2.60) Chinese Sausage – ¥29.99
($4.20 / €3.90) these two I buy for tonight's cooking I will cook "ShaoMai" first time so looking forward Self-checkout area. We always pay with our phones. QR codes... everywhere in China. Do you think it's dystopian ? Somehow it could be too easy to spend money ... I'm not sure if Walmart in your country is like this too. Total: ¥342 ($48 / €45) A little expensive than my nearby supermaraket. Anyway still can support me 2 weeks There's always a small barber shop in malls in China. Around ¥20 ($3) for a haircut. Everything feels heavier after
shopping. But it's okay... I get used to doing things alone. I wanna unlock a bike… in China every corner has QR bikes but this QR code can not be scanned unfortunately. so I decided to walk ... I passed by a small food stall after 1 mile walking It is Henan food... from my hometown. This is more like a villiage My mom makes it the same way. I grow up eating this handmade noodles by my mom Watching this... feels a little like home. Living alone in Shenzhen for 4 years this is the first time I saw this ... Such simple food, but it means so much to me.
The smell, the warmth, the little steam... ...brings back so many memories. I just maked the order,so looking forward to it... only $2 ... I told myself not to eat after 6 p.m. I wanna lose weight but not today... It's almost 10 p.m. But the city is still awake. it tastes like mom cooking for me. Sometimes that's all I need. Finally back home ... I need catch the breath for a while ... The glutinous rice had been soaking for almost 8 hours. It felt like it had been waiting for me all day. I wanna cook Cantanese Shaomai even it is too late.. this holes
makes easier to steam I need to steam it for about 30 to 45 minutes. carrots, green peas, corn chopping the sausage Simple ingredients… but somehow comforting. I already felt like I made too much. When I cook for myself… I always end up cooking more than I need. And then it becomes food for several days… not just one meal. Just enough to make it into small bits… not too fine, still with texture. This is my new induction cooker. I’m really happy with it. It works surprisingly well. I got it for ¥170 ($24 USD / €22 EUR) on Xianyu, a secondhand
app in China. I fried some minced pork until it smelled good. soy sauce dark soy sauce salt wrapping them with dumpling skin it's already so late... I will take them with me for lunch break tommorow Do you think it looks delicous ? I cleaned up… and go to sleep Thanks for watching. I steamed them again for a few minutes. During that time, I kept checking them. I think I've reached my limit today. While waiting, I started preparing the filling. Make mushrooms into small pieces. I didn’t expect it to take so long. But I still wanted to finish it. Maybe
I made too many for one person. Enough for two weeks… maybe even a month.
