Your post is a must for all FT's to read. Thanks for taking the time and the trouble to compose it. It flies in the face of those who say FT's in China are poorly paid. At least they can save a large chunk of their monthly salary if they watch what they buy, and avoid:
i) drinking at night clubs/karaoke bars/bars regularly.
ii)sleeping with ladies of the night.
ii)eating hamburgers and French fries etcetera at western chain restaurants too regularly.
iv) live in free accommodation provided by their employers. Just to add that most accommodation of that kind is perfectly acceptable to down to earth westerners, and much better than a Nairobi slum or a New York ghetto or a Parisian slum, even in the small backwater cities and county seats!