Cost of living comparison

China

compared to

New Zealand

Nelson vs. Guangzhou Cost of Living Summary

Nelson is 73.7% more expensive than Guangzhou.

Restaurants: pay 3.1 times more in Nelson
Groceries: pay 54.7% more in Nelson
Transportation: pay 19.6% more in Nelson
Housing: pay 2.3 times more in Nelson
Childcare: pay 60.2% less in Nelson
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Nelson
Clothing: pay 15.5% more in Nelson

The cost of restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, transportation, and clothing in Nelson are more expensive than in Guangzhou. Notably, restaurants, housing, and entertainment and sports are significantly more expensive in Nelson.

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Nelson vs. Guangzhou Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Nelson instead of Guangzhou, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.1 times more for restaurants

	Guangzhou	Nelson
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$2.98 CN¥19.96	$13.73 NZ$24.46	+360.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.22 CN¥34.94	$8.40 NZ$14.97	+61.0%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.56 CN¥3.76	$1.75 NZ$3.12	+211.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.36 CN¥2.38	$1.68 NZ$2.99	+373.0%
Average			+207.3%

Guangzhou vs. Nelson - Cost of restaurants

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pay 54.7% more for groceries

	Guangzhou	Nelson
Bread 1 loaf	$1.86 CN¥12.47	$2.11 NZ$3.76	+13.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$8.28 CN¥55.43	$4.62 NZ$8.24	-44.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.03 CN¥47.03	$7.12 NZ$12.69	+1.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.54 CN¥10.32	$5.68 NZ$10.12	+268.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.31 CN¥15.49	$3.39 NZ$6.04	+46.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.02 CN¥6.81	$1.40 NZ$2.49	+37.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.57 CN¥3.83	$0.99 NZ$1.76	+72.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.68 CN¥4.56	$1.37 NZ$2.44	+100.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.79 CN¥5.30	$2.59 NZ$4.62	+227.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.44 CN¥2.97	$0.95 NZ$1.70	+114.6%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.54 CN¥3.63	$0.57 NZ$1.01	+5.0%
Average			+54.7%

Guangzhou vs. Nelson - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.6% more for transportation

	Guangzhou	Nelson
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.08 CN¥33.97	$5.97 NZ$10.64	+17.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$22.37 CN¥149.73	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	$17,086.24 NZ$30,448.62	-11.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$5.13 CN¥34.34	$16.19 NZ$28.85	+215.5%
Average			+19.6%

Guangzhou vs. Nelson - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.3 times more for housing

	Guangzhou	Nelson
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$14.60 CN¥97.69	$42.72 NZ$76.12	+192.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$538.60 CN¥3,604.70	$1,022.37 NZ$1,821.93	+89.8%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$277.42 CN¥1,856.70	$812.30 NZ$1,447.56	+192.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$46.59 CN¥311.84	$98.59 NZ$175.69	+111.6%
Average			+134.5%

Guangzhou vs. Nelson - Cost of housing

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pay 60.2% less for childcare

	Guangzhou	Nelson
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,497.11 CN¥10,019.68	$448.16 NZ$798.65	-70.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,341.50 CN¥163K	$12,899.11 NZ$22,986.93	-47.0%
Average			-60.2%

Guangzhou vs. Nelson - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Guangzhou	Nelson
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 CN¥7.99	$7.28 NZ$12.98	+510.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.99 CN¥20.03	$3.22 NZ$5.74	+7.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.80 CN¥25.45	$25.18 NZ$44.87	+562.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$69.27 CN¥463.62	$100.84 NZ$179.70	+45.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$6.56 CN¥43.92	$11.20 NZ$19.97	+70.7%
Average			+121.0%

Guangzhou vs. Nelson - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 15.5% more for clothing

	Guangzhou	Nelson
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.22 CN¥329.41	$52.29 NZ$93.18	+6.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$41.10 CN¥275.07	$28.15 NZ$50.16	-31.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$82.39 CN¥551.44	$101.77 NZ$181.36	+23.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$69.90 CN¥467.79	$138.65 NZ$247.08	+98.4%
Average			+15.5%

Guangzhou vs. Nelson - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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