@Tonyaod, obviously the point about mmkunming's calculations is to demonstrate more or less extreme possibilities, not to draw up an exact budget for anybody. I think he did that. You seem to be more interested in picking apart the way he says things than in dealing with the issues he brought up. Right - the way he writes is sometimes less than perfect, but to waste one's time attacking it often seems to be a conscious attempt to avoid the issues entirely. If he sometimes presented issues in black & white terms, that's not much different from what other contributors do. Obviously, no foreigner here really lives in a complete bubble, from which one might observe (and misinterpret) 'China' constantly and get into all kinds of self-centered rages (cabbies, food, etc.), and nobody becomes a complete local, but to spend any time away from home and not be changed by it at all because one insists on staying inside a self-affirming bubble & looking out without going out (I'm making an extreme point here, ok?) is pretty much a waste. Fortunately, however, things do not always go according to plan, so there's always the possibility that the individual may be surprised into learning something, no matter how much he tries not to.
But all of this is becoming overblown, and the concentration on fixing blame for it on particular individuals and then bothering to insult them is, imho, a stupid priority engaged in primarily by those who are more interested in winning word battles than in either teaching or learning or discovering anything.

@mPRin: Granted that there may be universal agreement about some elements of lifestyle, but if lifestyles are different, why apply the standards of your 'home' lifestyle to decide what is higher or lower in terms of a different lifestyle somewhere else?

But actually I believe that both you and I are a bit unclear about what we mean by standards and lifestyles, both of which can be changed as we learn of new possibilities. Would seem to me that standards are not sacred, or anyway that they are not necessarily so. And they're not necessarily one-dimensional (high/low, more/less, quantitative, etc.)

@the ghost of mmkunming: I agree, more or less, with your calculations, but I don't necessarily think that's 'living like a local' - sounds more like living according to common sense anywhere, especially if you're a little short of coin. And you can eat meat daily for very little more.
@Dazzer: take education wherever you can find it.

As for rudeness - no comment necessary.

The insulting assholes here would be happy you're leaving, except that I have a feeling they need somebody else to insult. I'm sure they'll have no trouble finding one.

@mPRin: For the price you're looking for, try Fengningxiaoqu, on Jinhuapulu north of Renminxilu and just inside the 2nd Ring Rd. - single bedroom, living room, small inside sunporch sort of affair (hard to describe, but plenty of light from windows), kitchen, bathroom, RMB800p/mo., maybe less. No hassle with gate guards any time day or night, direct buses to Wenlinjie, & Renminlu has many buses, will have an underground after they finish tearing it up and putting it back together. Virtually no foreigners.