Beijing, China

$800 in rent (single, just me footing that bill). Food expenses are between $500 and $1000 a month. Could easily spend less, but it makes being social difficult.

I'm working full-time with a RMB salary and working on side projects (a bit slow at the moment).

Local programmers can be cheap, $500-$1500/month. If you want to sell to the local Chinese market online you may need an Internet Content Provider (ICP) license, which could be costly. Note that I know nothing about this process, but it's probably a good idea to talk to a lawyer if this is part of your business plan. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICP_license

Do you host locally in China? Do you know any local VPS hosting?