hi, i've stayed in Shanghai for more than 10 years and here is some information for your reference:
Basic Living (about RMB 8k-10k per month for a MBA graduate)
Food:
RMB 100 per day (eat in middle end restaurante like Fresh Element or Xin Wang Cantonese restaurant) + RMB 50 per day for anything else (fruit, dairy, beer, cigarette...)
total 4.5k per month
Housing:
Within the Middle Ring Freeway, RMB 3k to 5k per month, should be able to find a decent fully-decorated apartment (50-80m2)
Commuting:
i suggest to buy a car to improve your living range and probably quality as well (though the traffic here is bad, you may find out it's worthwhile owning a car), you can sell it when you leave SH. Note car plate in SH is around 40k now, or you can choose to buy a car plate out of SH, which costs less than RMB 1k with some rush hour limit in SH.
Gas cost is around RBM 1k per month (~RMB 330 for a full tank)
If you choose metro or taxi, it's probably 1k-2k per month
Advanced Living (for a MBA graudate) :
Socialization:
hang out in club or pubs, RMB 200 to 800 per time;
group dinner in nice restaurant, RMB 100 to 300 per headcount
Travelling:
2k to 10k for most demestic trips within 2 hrs flight
Books/CDs/Mags:
averagely RMB 100-200 per month
Apparel/Shoes/ or anything else to cover the human body with a public accpetable brand:
about RMB 1k-5k per year for a common person
hopefully it helps
-- by 会员 andeyouxiang (2010/2/12 14:53:45)