Been looking at a few locations to start teaching ESL which have a similar salary. Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Europe, etc.

Just wondering if anyone knew how the actual everyday living expenses differed.
i.e. is Japanese really that expensive to live in? i have heard story of just the taxi ride from the airport setting them back $$$! What about food and eating out?

Can only share experiences from 2 countries i have taught in:

Japan
Japan can be quite affordable if you can live without some of the mod-cons from home. Also if you chose somewhere outside the major cities (away from Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya), it will be much cheaper.

In The major cities you can expect to spend around 100,000 - 150,000 Yen per month on living expenditure. In smaller cities, you can get away with only speding 60,000 - 80,000 Yen per month.

China
China is very very cheap if you can live like the locals. If you hit the bars and eat Western food everyday, you will find your monthly salary is not enough to last the month.

Living expenses are more expensive in larger cities (Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, etc), but you can still live very cheapily in these places if you choose. In smaller out of the way places (Northern China), living expenses are very very cheap, but you will probably find wages are lower to.

In major cities you can live on anywhere from 600 RMB up to 4000 RMB per month.