Moving from China to UAE

***

for sure it will be big change in your budget,  double your budget expense  the way you spend in china, like  a single bedroom villa may cost 3-4k aed a month if your lucky enough to get a monthly rate. your 10 rmb food meal would be around 25aed . in abu  dabhi power and water is inclusive for the house rent. by the way are you still in china? I was in china too before coming to uae.

1. Is this a good package:

27000AED per month (salary)
international school for my 6 year old
housing allowance
health insurance
Transport allowance
return flights
4 weeks paid holiday per year plus UAE public holidays

That is a decent package, but verify how much your housing allowance is. To be really good, it should be in the 10k+ range. With all the other allowances, you won't have to spend much so overall it's a decent package.

27k will be enough for an ok lifestyle but don't expect to be able to save up a lot of money, or have much left for a luxury lifestyle.

2. How easy is it to find a nanny? What is the cost of this? Do they generally look after children and clean etc? Or just take care of children and have a seperate housekeeper for cleaning??!!

That depends on who you hire. Nanny business is very popular and they're quite professional so you should be able to find one no problem through verified agencies. I'm not sure myself how much they cost, but they can do both.

3. How much is it for a 3-4 bedroom house/apartment in Abu Dhabi? Is it easy to find 3-4 bedroom places?

Lucky for you, prices are on the massive decrease in AD, but this still depends on location. If you live inside Abu Dhabi city, expect to see rents of 130k+ a year, with areas on the outskirts going for 90k/year (Al Reef apartments), and the further you go, in Mohammed Bin Zayed City / Mussaffah for 70-80k, and so on.

4. How easy is it to buy baby formula?

Aside from finding parking at a mall? Very.

5. How expensive is it to eat out?

Cheap / Low-class fast food : 25 AED per meal.
Moderate / Medium grills, arabic and indian : 50 AED per meal, per person.
High / American, hotel, speciality : 80-100AED per meal, per person.

6. Family grocery budget?

Depend on how much you buy. For a family of 4, it can be around 300 - 500 AED a week.

7. Recommended international schools

Abu Dhabi Education Department performs inspections of schools and rates them yearly. If your children's education is paid by the company, I recommend you look at the top spots. And just consider what type of international school you want them to enroll in. (British vs American vs Canadian, etc)

8. Is Abu Dhabi a good place with children?

Very little bullying, discrimination in international schools. Decent amount of events and strict anti-drug rules makes it a safe environment overall. But they can only go to parks during the Nov - Feb period because it's too hot outside.