All the milk I have seen is expensive. In UK you don't need to pay more than £1 for half a gallon of milk.And there is actually precious little milk in a box of Chinese milk.

That's right, mate. Bread here is expensive too. However, steamed bread is cheap in Northern China, and it's NOT sweet. I hate sweet bread! Coffee is expensive here, but black tea, or is it red tea? is cheap if you avoid buying the imported teabags.

Cheapest quality red meat dish, cook at home, is pork ribs/backbones. Buy an autoclave to cook them. Price here is between 15 and 18 RMB/ 500 grams. The butcher will chop them up for you. Delicious with potatoes and seasoning, including chillis.

I should add that potato crisps are expensive here. Biscuits are around 7 RMB/500 GRAMS in supermarkets. Cheese, as we know it, is virtually unobtainable. If it is, it'll be expensive. Bean curd in a red sauce can be bought in a big tub from some street markets. It tastes a bit like cheese. Oats are expensive. Avoid eating porage for that reason.