"People don't believe me, but I'm probably the poorest foreigner, or maybe even the poorest young man in the city," says Philip Lok, a 32-year-old Swiss national from Belgium who works in a French company. "All my Chinese friends think I'm kidding. They're like, come on, you speak four languages, and work for a foreign company. We see you in so many parties, what are you talking about being poor?"
Lok, who is half Chinese, first visited China in 2001 and fell in love with Shanghai. He loves the metropolitan feeling, the nightlife energy, the late-night take-outs, and even the crowds during rush hour. He admits the living costs are much cheaper compared with Europe, but says, "I'm making RMB (yuan) here. Most people tend to forget that since everything seems to be more expensive for foreigners."
Lok's Chinese girlfriend felt ashamed to tell her parents about their financial status.
"Her parents couldn't believe us," says Lok. "They were like, even a Chinese guy at your age would have some savings. How could you be so broke as a foreigner? You don't even have enough money for a marriage ceremony."
So he and his girlfriend moved to Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, her hometown. It's cheaper there, he has to save for their marriage.
Like Lok, many young expats worry about running out of money before the end of the month, sigh that they have no savings after working for a few years, and get freaked out by their credit card bills every month. A lot of young people around the world feel the same way.
"I don't feel like a privileged class in Shanghai. I feel the hospitality and enjoy the city, but I'm not much different from my friends back in Poland," says Paula Kowalski, a 23-year-old college graduate who does public relations for a small US exhibitions company.
"I worry about the same things like getting a decent job, negotiating a good deal for rent, trying to cut back on spending, meeting new friends," says Kowalski, who comes from Nadarzyn.
She earns about 7,000 yuan (US$1,025) a month and gets no housing allowance or transport. That's much more than the average 3,000 yuan a Shanghainese grad could earn but less than what many people expect of an expat.
Kowalski arrived here a few months ago, lured by tales of the charms and opportunities in Shanghai. Her friends told her the city's rapid internationalization would make it easier for her to find a job here than in Poland.
"It was probably true a few years ago, when there weren't so many foreigners, but it's not anymore," she says. "The city is filled with foreigners and locals who graduate from foreign universities and speak fluent English, better than me."
