Cost of living comparison

Spain

compared to

China

Beijing vs. San Sebastian Cost of Living Summary

Beijing is 36.2% cheaper than San Sebastian.

Restaurants: pay 69.6% less in Beijing
Groceries: pay 34.0% less in Beijing
Transportation: pay 32.6% less in Beijing
Housing: pay 43.9% less in Beijing
Childcare: pay 60.3% more in Beijing
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.6% less in Beijing
Clothing: pay 7.3% more in Beijing

The cost of childcare and clothing in Beijing are more expensive than in San Sebastian. Expenses including restaurants, housing, groceries, transportation, and entertainment and sports are lower in Beijing.

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Beijing vs. San Sebastian Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Beijing instead of San Sebastian, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 69.6% less for restaurants

	San Sebastian	Beijing
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.80 €14.95	$4.47 CN¥29.94	-73.4%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.64 €9.47	$5.22 CN¥34.93	-50.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.80 €2.49	$0.52 CN¥3.49	-81.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.60 €1.42	$0.27 CN¥1.82	-82.9%
Average			-69.6%

San Sebastian vs. Beijing - Cost of restaurants

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pay 34.0% less for groceries

	San Sebastian	Beijing
Bread 1 loaf	$1.03 €0.92	$1.73 CN¥11.56	+67.7%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$11.34 €10.09	$7.22 CN¥48.28	-36.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.42 €3.93	$6.41 CN¥42.88	+45.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.64 €3.24	$2.02 CN¥13.53	-44.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.68 €3.28	$1.47 CN¥9.81	-60.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.16 €1.04	$0.93 CN¥6.25	-19.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.07 €0.95	$0.79 CN¥5.28	-25.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.49 €1.32	$0.93 CN¥6.21	-37.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.30 €1.16	$0.71 CN¥4.75	-45.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 €0.84	$0.32 CN¥2.15	-66.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.90 €0.81	$0.40 CN¥2.66	-56.1%
Average			-34.0%

San Sebastian vs. Beijing - Cost of groceries

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pay 32.6% less for transportation

	San Sebastian	Beijing
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.62 €5.89	$4.96 CN¥33.20	-25.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$33.59 €29.90	$34.30 CN¥229.53	+2.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$36,315.82 €32,322.39	$19,374.76 CN¥130K	-46.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.15 €12.60	$4.68 CN¥31.34	-66.9%
Average			-32.6%

San Sebastian vs. Beijing - Cost of transportation

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pay 43.9% less for housing

	San Sebastian	Beijing
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$35.27 €31.39	$14.27 CN¥95.47	-59.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,404.47 €1,250.03	$936.67 CN¥6,267.07	-33.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$973.61 €866.55	$530.98 CN¥3,552.67	-45.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$104.82 €93.29	$44.49 CN¥297.65	-57.6%
Average			-43.9%

San Sebastian vs. Beijing - Cost of housing

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pay 60.3% more for childcare

	San Sebastian	Beijing
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$447.89 €398.64	$653.29 CN¥4,371.01	+45.9%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$13,784.69 €12,268.87	$24,281.96 CN¥162K	+76.2%
Average			+60.3%

San Sebastian vs. Beijing - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.6% less for entertainment and sports

	San Sebastian	Beijing
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.36 €2.99	$1.19 CN¥7.98	-64.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.05 €1.83	$3.60 CN¥24.09	+75.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$6.16 €5.48	$4.33 CN¥28.94	-29.8%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.83 €38.12	$41.45 CN¥277.32	-3.2%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.45 €7.52	$7.46 CN¥49.90	-11.8%
Average			-15.6%

San Sebastian vs. Beijing - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 7.3% more for clothing

	San Sebastian	Beijing
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$72.78 €64.78	$70.55 CN¥472.03	-3.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$32.19 €28.65	$40.41 CN¥270.36	+25.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$74.46 €66.27	$86.99 CN¥582.00	+16.8%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$134.37 €119.59	$125.40 CN¥839.02	-6.7%
Average			+7.3%

San Sebastian vs. Beijing - 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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