Is it possible to travel Shanghai for 20 dollars a day, including breakfast, lunch, dinner, accommodation, transportation, and everything in between? Watch this video and I’ll show you how far you can go with only 20 bucks (130 RMB)!

[Update 5/16/16]: This video went viral on Chinese social media in April and the Chinese, as well as foreigners, had a lot to say about it. Most people enjoyed the video and were encouraging and enjoyed the travel aspect of the video. But a few folks insisted that they could do it better than me (I wouldn’t be surprised if they could), and others tried to shame me, saying things like, “some people live off that much for a month.” Maybe they’re right, but I think those people missed the point; it’s about budget traveling, not living.

Here’s one way to travel Shanghai for 20 bucks:

Well folks, here it is. As promised, this is the type of video I’ll be making when I travel the world for as long as possible using only $20/day, starting this summer. I figured Shanghai (my home away from home) was the perfect place to produce the first video of this travel series. Here’s a brief breakdown of all my costs for one whole day in China’s most expensive city:

Meals

Breakfast: I bought two baozi buns for 3 RMB (1.5 RMB apiece). A pineapple on a stick from a roadside vendor cost me 5 RMB. Lunch: I ate at Yang’s, a famous fried dumpling chain that serves up amazing Sheng Jian Bao. That meal cost me 8 RMB. Dinner: I ate YangZhou fried rice at a local restaurant (18 RMB) with a refreshing beer (12 RMB), which totaled out to 30 RMB.

Transportation

As far as transportation goes, the underground public transit system (the Metro) is connected to virtually every part of the city and you can travel from one end of the city to another for less than a dollar. Throughout the day, I only spent 6 RMB ($1) on transportation!

Accommodation

This is definitely going to be the most expensive part of my plan to travel the world for $20/day. A standard dormitory room bed at the Shanghai City Central Youth Hostel cost me 70 RMB, which was more than half of my daily budget.

Total cost: 123 RMB ($19)

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Shanghai City Central Youth Hostel (Address: China, Shanghai, Putuo, 武宁路300弄50号 邮政编码: 200235) hostelshanghai.cn

Yang’s Fried Dumplings (Address: 269 Wujiang Road, Shanghai, China; 吴江路269号)

All music by: The Passion HiFi (thepassionhifi.com).

Thanks for watching this video! Be sure to subscribe to my blog and my YouTube channel. More 20-Dollar Travel videos coming your way, starting this summer!

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