The Price of Eggs in China

The Price of Eggs in Shanghai, China

That price is for one 斤 (jīn), which is 500 grams (the vendor says that’s 8 eggs).

So that’s 5.8 RMB per kg, or 2.7 RMB per pound.

2.7 RMB, at the current exchange rate, is US$0.38 (per pound).

Even if you’re not buying the cheapest eggs, you can typically buy eggs in Shanghai for less than 1 RMB (US$0.14) per egg.

2020-06-19 Edit: Sorry, people, my original eggs prices were off. Thanks to readers for calling it to my attention.


The real reason I took this photo, though, is as a reminder to learners that your written Chinese characters don’t have to be amazing works of beauty to get the job done.

Since I hardly write by hand these days, my own Chinese handwriting is pretty ugly too, but I don’t sweat it.

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John Pasden

John is a Shanghai-based linguist and entrepreneur, founder of AllSet Learning.

Comments

  1. Stavros Says: June 11, 2020 at 4:26 pm

    I gain a lot of satisfaction from handwriting in both Chinese and English. There is something magical about the pen. I believe the act of handwriting helps you embed a language deeply. It’s a skill that requires nurturing. But just like anyone else who has Chinese as a foreign language, I struggle with handwriting in Chinese. My characters are too large. By Chinese standards they are sloppy. Even after many years I fail to write in a controlled hand such as John’s daughter demonstrates in the biang video.

  2. I don’t get how price per pound (0.454 kg) is higher than price per kg and price per jin (0.5 kg).

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