but then i don't believe that the average Westerner would be happy living the average Chinese lifestyle

I will agree with what you wrote about the weather in Henan....dismal, to say the least.

However not all westerners maybe like you say.

Some like cheap beer, a simple lunch, and living cheaply and saving, even on 5,500 rmb a month.

Needs and wants. Some like the western materialist lifestyle of always eating western food and so on....and then wonder why they don't save much, even on 10,000 rmb a month.

Others live within their means, and save on less.