Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

China

Shanghai vs. Queenstown Cost of Living Summary

Shanghai is 41.8% cheaper than Queenstown.

Restaurants: pay 63.1% less in Shanghai
Groceries: pay 43.4% less in Shanghai
Transportation: pay 46.8% less in Shanghai
Housing: pay 46.6% less in Shanghai
Childcare: pay 2.3 times more in Shanghai
Entertainment and Sports: pay 40.9% less in Shanghai
Clothing: pay 16.3% less in Shanghai

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

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Shanghai vs. Queenstown Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Shanghai instead of Queenstown, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 63.1% less for restaurants

	Queenstown	Shanghai
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.01 NZ$24.96	$4.47 CN¥29.95	-68.1%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 NZ$15.97	$5.22 CN¥34.94	-41.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.07 NZ$3.69	$0.60 CN¥4.01	-71.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.04 NZ$3.64	$0.37 CN¥2.48	-81.9%
Average			-63.1%

Queenstown vs. Shanghai - Cost of restaurants

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pay 43.4% less for groceries

	Queenstown	Shanghai
Bread 1 loaf	$1.96 NZ$3.48	$1.98 CN¥13.22	+1.0%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.17 NZ$7.43	$8.60 CN¥57.54	+106.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.05 NZ$14.35	$6.88 CN¥46.03	-14.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.77 NZ$10.29	$1.70 CN¥11.36	-70.6%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.50 NZ$8.02	$1.48 CN¥9.89	-67.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.34 NZ$2.38	$0.99 CN¥6.65	-25.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.05 NZ$1.88	$0.77 CN¥5.16	-26.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.70 NZ$3.03	$0.90 CN¥6.05	-46.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.44 NZ$4.36	$0.77 CN¥5.15	-68.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.56 NZ$2.79	$0.36 CN¥2.40	-77.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.82 NZ$1.46	$0.43 CN¥2.90	-47.1%
Average			-43.4%

Queenstown vs. Shanghai - Cost of groceries

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pay 46.8% less for transportation

	Queenstown	Shanghai
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.42 NZ$11.45	$4.96 CN¥33.22	-22.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$120.44 NZ$214.64	$29.83 CN¥199.65	-75.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,209.21 NZ$44,924.20	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-23.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.47 NZ$31.13	$5.67 CN¥37.93	-67.6%
Average			-46.8%

Queenstown vs. Shanghai - Cost of transportation

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pay 46.6% less for housing

	Queenstown	Shanghai
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$51.87 NZ$92.44	$10.55 CN¥70.61	-79.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,488.74 NZ$2,653.02	$1,036.96 CN¥6,940.04	-30.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,267.18 NZ$2,258.19	$588.71 CN¥3,940.05	-53.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$84.02 NZ$149.73	$44.06 CN¥294.86	-47.6%
Average			-46.6%

Queenstown vs. Shanghai - Cost of housing

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pay 2.3 times more for childcare

	Queenstown	Shanghai
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$964.30 NZ$1,718.43	$1,413.50 CN¥9,460.10	+46.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$7,562.76 NZ$13,477.26	$27,686.22 CN¥185K	+266.1%
Average			+131.7%

Queenstown vs. Shanghai - Cost of childcare

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pay 40.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Queenstown	Shanghai
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.72 NZ$11.98	$1.19 CN¥7.99	-82.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.22 NZ$5.74	$3.35 CN¥22.42	+4.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$26.89 NZ$47.92	$3.73 CN¥24.96	-86.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$55.32 NZ$98.58	$65.69 CN¥439.64	+18.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.22 NZ$18.22	$8.95 CN¥59.89	-12.5%
Average			-40.9%

Queenstown vs. Shanghai - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 16.3% less for clothing

	Queenstown	Shanghai
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.26 NZ$103.82	$54.37 CN¥363.89	-6.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.94 NZ$81.86	$37.09 CN¥248.26	-19.2%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$91.03 NZ$162.23	$75.49 CN¥505.23	-17.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$134.45 NZ$239.60	$105.70 CN¥707.45	-21.4%
Average			-16.3%

Queenstown vs. Shanghai - 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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