I always pay the "main bill" of dates, like dinner. Then later she'll buy me a drink, bubble tea, snack, etc. Some girls like the girl I'm seeing now also give me regular gifts, which balances it too. End of the day I'm usually paying 70-80% of the expenses that we share
If it costs too much money for me to comfortably pay it, I'll just say no we're not doing that
If you work a decent teaching job in China, the odds of you dating a girl who makes your kind of money are very very small. I make about 22k while the girl I'm seeing makes something like 10k or 12k, which is not a bad salary, it's just that foreign teachers make so much