Beijing has gotten quite a bit more expensive in the couple years that I've been there. On top of that the currency exchange rate has gotten considerably worse

Beijing has gotten quite a bit more expensive in the couple years that I've been there. On top of that the currency exchange rate has gotten considerably worse. Probably in total a 25% difference since I arrived in 2006. Most people reading this would not be happy at all living off of $400 per month, that's noodles for lunch every day. I'm in my late 30's and don't feel like living like a student nor having to, I spend $2k USD per month for a very comfortable lifestyle, $1k in rent and $1k on food/misc, about 25% less than what I'd spend back home. In China it is not legal to employ Chinese people as a foreigner operating a business in China unless you're a Registered Office (RO) or a Wholly Foreign Owned Enterprise (WFOE). It is not legal to draw a salary personally unless you have a Z visa (not L or F), you need an RO or WFOE to get a Z. Furthermore the RO can not invoice Chinese customers, it is only an expense center (and is taxed on expenses). A WFOE requires registered capital typically between $10K USD to $100K USD depending on the business. Setting up one of the two can take several months depending on your luck with the government. As I understand it your LLC would be illegal to operate in China without either being an RO or WFOE (or a JV which is unlikely). You may be able get away with ignoring all this and many people do but if you're caught you can face stiff penalties and be ejected from China and are going to have a hell of a time getting more than $50K USD per year in or out of the country. The labour laws basically require you to provide contracts to all of your employees or face stiff penalties. There's a number of pitfalls. See http://www.chinalawblog.com/ http://www.chinalawblog.com/ for more details, there's lots of discussion. The women are very nice indeed, I'll never go back to American women...