Expense Report: Ten Days in Sichuan

This is the first in an occasional series of “Expense Reports”  where I use my recent trips to examine the highly variable costs of travel in China.

After a year of blogging about China travel, it’s finally time to tackle one of the biggest questions of anyone preparing to travel: How much does it cost? I’ve been reluctant to write a post like this about because my trips — lots of weekends away and short trips — have such different fixed costs than more typical two-week to two-month trips. So instead of attempting to represent a single “typical” trip, I’m starting a series of “expense reports” that should give you an idea of how much it costs to travel in different parts of China. For this case study, I’ll look at the 10-day trip I took to Sichuan Province in May.

Jiuzhaigou just isn't a budget destination.

I wasn’t too surprised by the final numbers. Including all transportation, accommodation and other daily expenses, the trip averaged out to about $39 per day. The itinerary includes a couple of expensive destinations, Jiuzhaigou most prominently among them. And in Jiuzhaigou, we did a wonderful but decidedly nonbudget homestay. So this isn’t the cheapest trip you could take in China. But we kept costs down as much as possible by finding inexpensive accommodations, taking long-distance buses from place to place, and avoiding English menus. Depending on where you choose to go in China, you could shave quite a bit off this daily budget. On the other hand, big cities like Beijing and Shanghai are going to cost you at least this much, and probably more.

Notes on This Budget:

• The full itinerary: Chengdu (1 nights), Langzhong/Guangyuan (2 nights), Jiuzhaigou (3 nights), Chengdu (1 night), Leshan/Emei Shan (1 night), Chengdu (1 night)
• Most of the nights were spent in double rooms in hostels or in cheap hotels. In Jiuzhaigou, private rooms were so expensive that we stayed in dorm rooms instead for two nights. Our third night in Jiuzhaigou was at a Tibetan homestay which cost 180 RMB per person per night, which definitely dragged the average accommodation cost up.
• The sightseeing budget is based on an individual paying full admission to all museums, temples, parks, etc. High ticket prices can add up, but you can often get as much as 50% off if you have a student card (whether its valid or not).

Related posts:

1. Expense Report: 6 Days in Guizhou
2. Two Days on the Sea of Japan
3. Japan: How Much Does It Really Cost?
4. Budgeting a Western China Adventure
5. Frugal Travel Tips

Tagged as: budget, budget travel, China, expense report