Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

China

Guangzhou vs. Nelson Cost of Living Summary

Guangzhou is 42.4% cheaper than Nelson.

Restaurants: pay 67.5% less in Guangzhou
Groceries: pay 35.4% less in Guangzhou
Transportation: pay 16.4% less in Guangzhou
Housing: pay 57.4% less in Guangzhou
Childcare: pay 2.5 times more in Guangzhou
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.8% less in Guangzhou
Clothing: pay 13.5% less in Guangzhou

Expenses including restaurants, housing, entertainment and sports, groceries, transportation, and clothing are lower in Guangzhou. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Guangzhou.

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Guangzhou vs. Nelson Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 67.5% less for restaurants

	Nelson	Guangzhou
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.73 NZ$24.46	$2.98 CN¥19.96	-78.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.40 NZ$14.97	$5.22 CN¥34.94	-37.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.75 NZ$3.12	$0.56 CN¥3.76	-67.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.68 NZ$2.99	$0.36 CN¥2.38	-78.9%
Average			-67.5%

Nelson vs. Guangzhou - Cost of restaurants

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pay 35.4% less for groceries

	Nelson	Guangzhou
Bread 1 loaf	$2.11 NZ$3.76	$1.86 CN¥12.47	-11.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.62 NZ$8.24	$8.28 CN¥55.43	+79.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.12 NZ$12.69	$7.03 CN¥47.03	-1.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.68 NZ$10.12	$1.54 CN¥10.32	-72.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.39 NZ$6.04	$2.31 CN¥15.49	-31.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.40 NZ$2.49	$1.02 CN¥6.81	-27.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.99 NZ$1.76	$0.57 CN¥3.83	-42.1%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.37 NZ$2.44	$0.68 CN¥4.56	-50.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.59 NZ$4.62	$0.79 CN¥5.30	-69.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.70	$0.44 CN¥2.97	-53.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.57 NZ$1.01	$0.54 CN¥3.63	-4.8%
Average			-35.4%

Nelson vs. Guangzhou - Cost of groceries

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pay 16.4% less for transportation

	Nelson	Guangzhou
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.97 NZ$10.64	$5.08 CN¥33.97	-15.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$22.37 CN¥149.73
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$17,086.24 NZ$30,448.62	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	+13.4%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.19 NZ$28.85	$5.13 CN¥34.34	-68.3%
Average			-16.4%

Nelson vs. Guangzhou - Cost of transportation

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pay 57.4% less for housing

	Nelson	Guangzhou
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.72 NZ$76.12	$14.60 CN¥97.69	-65.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,022.37 NZ$1,821.93	$538.60 CN¥3,604.70	-47.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$812.30 NZ$1,447.56	$277.42 CN¥1,856.70	-65.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$98.59 NZ$175.69	$46.59 CN¥311.84	-52.7%
Average			-57.4%

Nelson vs. Guangzhou - Cost of housing

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pay 2.5 times more for childcare

	Nelson	Guangzhou
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$448.16 NZ$798.65	$1,497.11 CN¥10,019.68	+234.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,899.11 NZ$22,986.93	$24,341.50 CN¥163K	+88.7%
Average			+151.1%

Nelson vs. Guangzhou - Cost of childcare

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pay 54.8% less for entertainment and sports

	Nelson	Guangzhou
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.28 NZ$12.98	$1.19 CN¥7.99	-83.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.22 NZ$5.74	$2.99 CN¥20.03	-7.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$25.18 NZ$44.87	$3.80 CN¥25.45	-84.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$100.84 NZ$179.70	$69.27 CN¥463.62	-31.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.20 NZ$19.97	$6.56 CN¥43.92	-41.4%
Average			-54.8%

Nelson vs. Guangzhou - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.5% less for clothing

	Nelson	Guangzhou
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$52.29 NZ$93.18	$49.22 CN¥329.41	-5.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$28.15 NZ$50.16	$41.10 CN¥275.07	+46.0%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.77 NZ$181.36	$82.39 CN¥551.44	-19.0%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$138.65 NZ$247.08	$69.90 CN¥467.79	-49.6%
Average			-13.5%

Nelson vs. Guangzhou - 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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