I have to admit that for the few years I’ve been in China I’ve really felt like I was living in the lap of luxury. Sure, I’m from the Midwest and not Beverly Hills, but I didn’t exactly grow up in a one room shack and only wore a burlap sack when everything else was in the wash. So when my friend Liz gave me the heads up on the HSBC Bank International Expat Explorer survey I was a little surprised to find China ranked 9th out of the 11 surveyed countries. And maybe even more surprised to find the United States in the top 3 along with Singapore and the United Arab Emirates.

When talking with friends in China we often marvel at our financial status here. We command much higher salaries than our Chinese counterparts and our purchasing power is disproportionately high. We can afford ayis and dinner at restaurants every night. And how often would any of us being taking 50 dollar cab rides back home? We’re living in furnished apartments, watching our big TVs on nice new couches instead of on sagging sofas hauled home from Goodwill possibly still harboring lingering infectious diseases.

Obviously this has a lot to do with our station in life. For the most part the people I know are students and teachers. I know one investment banker but that’s it. I’m not afraid to admit it, most of the people I associate with on a regular basis have liberal arts degrees. If we continue teaching and writing at home we’re not going to be in demand for 150 dollar an hour tutoring jobs and our schools are not going to be paying for furnished apartments. 
 

To continue the apartment theme, I thought the Upper East Side was a nice New York named apartment complex until I went the ivory towers of Park Avenue (right across from Chaoyang Park) last weekend. We had brunch at a friend’s home and not only did they have a balcony that could have comfortably seated 20 people but they had the greatest of all luxuries in China – an oven. Over French toast drowning in freshly made blueberry compote and potato and pepper frittata I reassured myself, perhaps a bit defensively, that it was best I didn’t live in such an apartment. I would never be able to tear myself away from the 12 foot high ceilings and gym downstairs fitness center and go back to a rickety 70 year old apartment in the States with saran wrap blow-dried to the aging wooden window frames to keep out the cold.

I’m still rather amazed at the high rankings of the United States in this survey. Admittedly it was conducted from February to April of this year, before the economy really started to fall apart, and we do have some good restaurants but I would have thought the crime and failing school systems would make expats more wary about settling there. Of the surveyed expats livings in America 53% were in the financial industry which makes me wonder if perhaps we shouldn’t just disregard their input, if asked at the time what they thought of the economy they probably thought that was in tip-top shape too. The US is becoming more attractive to expats as the dollar weakens, including the Chinese that are now hopping over the pond to take advantage of the plummeting American house prices. In any event, it will be interesting to see what the survey says next year.

Although expats talk about the Chinese tendency to think of foreigners as a monolithic (and mostly Caucasian) entity, foreigners are also prone to this kind of thinking. This survey reminded me that there are more expats out there than just my fellow card carrying liberal artists. SOHO is full of fast moving bankers and business people of all persuasions and Shunyi must be packed with mothers who wish they could feel safer about the toys and milk they buy their kids.

The data I’ve seen from the survey (it is accessible in PDF form here) doesn’t include the countries of origin or ethnicities of any of the participants. Definitely my experiences as a white native English speaker in China are different from those who come here with darker skin or from the wrong Asian countries, or France; and those who don’t speak English have a much harder time finding work and sometimes friends.

I stay grateful, and a little bit guilty, for the standard of living I enjoy here. Maybe I’m overlooking the gray haze outside my window or the traffic and the frequent wearing of pajamas by grown men and women, but if the HSBC came and asked me my thoughts I’d tell them straight up – there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.

Fun facts from the HSBC Bank International Expat Explorer survey:

Despite the current economic climate, expats spend more whilst still being able to
save. Over half (58%) of expats save and invest more than they did in their country
of origin. 52% also spend more on food, 49% more on shopping and 45% more on
socialising in their new country of residence.

Expats are spending longer away from home, with 45% of those surveyed having lived abroad for more than 5 years.
Ireland and New Zealand have the greatest percentage of global travellers, with more than three quarters (80%) of
respondents from both countries stating that they had been away from home for longer than three years.

America is not necessarily viewed as a retirement destination by expats - only 6% of expats in the USA are
over 55.

Expat salaries are generally good, with at least 31% of expats earning more than £100,000 per annum and more than half
earning over £60,000 annually.

Hong Kong-based expats have the highest salaries in the world, with almost half (49%) earning more than £100,000 p.a. However, Brazilian, Irish and Australian expats are the wealthiest in the world.

The UAE was the most luxurious destination.
The UK was ranked the least luxurious.
Across all categories, males reported equal or higher experiences of luxuries than females.

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