Setting up a Digital Nomad Lifestyle in China

I have been living in Beijing for a few months now and it is not an easy location for a remote worker, especially when compared with Chiang Mai or Bali. I've lived in Chiang Mai, and while I love the food, culture, convenience and the lower standard of living in Chiang Mai, China has always had a special place in my heart.

For this post, I'll run through what you need to do to get set up in Beijing, which applies to China as well.

1. Get a reliable VPN.

Slack loads slowly, and all Google platforms are inaccessible without a VPN. Some coworking spaces will provide you with one for free or for a low price. Commonly used VPNs like ExpressVPN or Astrill can be slow when important government events happen in China. If you have no choice but to use them, I would suggest having 2 in case one is down.

2. Open a Chinese bank account.

If you're in China for at least 2 months, I'd highly recommend opening a bank account in China as many of the things you do day to day requires you to use apps. In order to pay for services or food, these apps only link with Chinese bank accounts.

I remember when I was scratching my head, trying to find a bank that would open an account for foreigners without a work or business visa in China. For now, ICBC is a great bank for foreigners with a travel visa. Truth is, it is China, where rules change quickly, so hopefully ICBC stays foreigner friendly!

3. Download these apps that will change the way you live your life:

China is a leader in mobile payments and hardly anyone is using cash. If you don't want to feel like you're a tech laggard living in the 90s in this day and age, definitely set up a Chinese bank account and get yourself set up with these apps:

The most basic:

Setting up Wechat Wallet and Alipay are the most important things you can do right away in China. If you don't do anything else, immediately open a bank account at ICBC, get a SIM card, and set up Wechat Wallet and Alipay. They are the main apps you use to pay for things, online and offline. In some places, cash isn't even accepted.

Food delivery:

Ele.me and Meituan Waimai are the main apps people use here for fast and cheap (most of the time free) delivery. In the US, Seamless and Grubhub are the top food delivery apps, but you still have to pay for delivery or tips. With Ele.me or Meituan, sometimes I'm paying just $5 for a meal and that includes delivery fee (most of the time waived). Another advantage is that these apps track where the "delivery guy" is, from the point where they're going to the restaurant to pick up your food, to waiting at the restaurant for your food to be prepared, to delivering it to your destination. All in all, it is very hard to resist using these apps for food as they are fast and cheap.

Transportation:

Didi, the Uber of China, has an English version, so it is foreigner friendly. Sometimes waiving a cab down in Beijing is very hard. Beijing taxi drivers are known for choosing their passengers and often will bypass foreigners. Using Didi will make sure you always have a cab ride home.

Mobike/Ofo: Mobike and Ofo are the main dock-less bike sharing systems in China. Easy to use; you use their apps to unlock smart devices embedded in the bikes, and after your ride, you can park them anywhere. Literally anywhere, and as you might imagine, there are funny stories that come out of that.

Another plus for a cashless lifestyle, the Beijing and Shanghai subway system allows you to download their transportation card apps and add funds via Apple Pay.

Shopping (clothes, groceries, kitchen/home appliances):

JinDong and Taobao

Fitness:

Guavapass is the ClassPass of Singapore and it has expanded all over Asia, and currently has quite a number of studios in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. I mainly use it for open gyms and the price is similar to what ClassPass offered back in the good ol' days (~$100 per month in Beijing for 3 months minimum).

Gym memberships are actually about the same price in China as in the US and I'm not talking about Planet Fitness or Blink. Fitness is for the upper middle class in China. While fitness is trending, the price points for gyms in China make it out of reach for most people. I used to pay $200 per month for Classpass in NYC but I find it hard to justify paying the same price or more for just a gym membership.

4. Transferwise might come in handy.

As a 'tourist' who isn't getting paid in RMB, I have to figure out how to pay for things without having to withdraw money all the time from the ATM. Transferwise has been a godsend for paying rent and my coworking space. The fees are lower compared to ATM withdrawals, bank transfers or paypal transfers and delivery time is quite fast, from 1 hour to a few days.

5. Find a co-working space that's right for you.

Co-working spaces in China don't exactly have 'hot desks'. Working remotely is up and coming in the States, but in China, stability is important and people prefer having a dedicated desk to work in. So hot desks are non-existent or aren't comfortable. In Beijing, there is WeWork and DayDayUp that I would highly recommend if you are looking for the familiar hot desk style coworking space. Otherwise a dedicated desk is more comfortable and may be more worth the price tag.