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roddy -

Thought this might be a useful topic to have to compare what people are paying for what kind of
accomodation and so newcomers can get an idea of what's out there. Just give the details of your
accomodation, any actual discussion or questions are probably best placed elsewhere. Use the
format I have below, or improve upon it

Type of accomodation: Rented apartment
Description: 113m2, new building, furnished. Big (by Chinese standards) kitchen, large lounge, sun
room, two bedrooms, 1.5 bathrooms.
Rent: 4000Y a month, paid quarterly. Lease started Dec 05.
Location: About halfway between Xizhimen and Beishida, Beijing. 10 minutes from subway. Maybe 15.
Found via: Classified ad, direct from landlord.
Lease: Was originally six months, don't have a contract now, just keep paying having agreed with
the landlord that we'll both give at least a months notice of any changes.
Came with: Standard new household stuff, biggest sofa in China. Furniture isn't IKEA, but
IKEA-style I guess. Maybe a bit sparsely furnished, but that's ok with me.
Landlord / Building management: Landlord is overseas. Building management deal with any issues
well.
Notes. This is a much bigger place than I need, but I love having the space and telling myself
that one day I'll stop working on the sofa and turn the second bedroom into an office. I suspect
similar apartments are available in the area for a bit cheaper, but at the same time poking around
on the Internet and speaking to a few other tenants here it seems I'm paying less than average for
the building - for example I know there are students at Beishida living here and paying 3800Y for
a smaller one bedroom place. So that makes me feel better . . .



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onebir -

Details of the place I had in Beijing:
Type of accommodation: Rented apartment
Description: 80m2, new building, furnished. Narrow kitchen, large lounge, sun room, two bedrooms
(large one with sun room), 1 bathrooms.
Rent: 3100Y a month, paid quarterly. Lease started Jun 06.
Location: Dongzhimen nei, 5 minutes from subway.
Found via: agents on donzhimen nei da jie
Lease: Was originally six months, broke it after just over 5. Contract specified I'd lose 1
month's rent for breaking early (watch out for this), but they compromised on 1 week.

However, when I moved out, the agents did 'find' damage which had already existed when I moved in
- that I hadn't bothered to notify them about because of their unwillingness to fix anything - and
charged me for that.










chenpv -

Accommodation I have been living in my University in Wuhan:
Type of accommodation: Rented apartment
Description: 40m2, old building, unfurnished. Tiny kitchen, medium lounge, one bedroom, 1 tiny
tiny bathroom.
Rent: 600Y a month, paid quarterly. Lease started July 06.
Location: in my University.
Found via: self-made advertisement
Lease: Oral lease, if it sounds more official and trustworthy than ' Mutual Credibility'.

Seriously, I am not complaining about the relative poorer living conditions - compared with those
described in above posts - which suffice my need. But what I am not pleased with is the attitude
of landlady, who never forgets to postpone doing almost everything, even rent collection.










msittig -

Broken leases all around? Wow, Beijing is a lawless place

Type of accommodation: Rented apartment
Description: 76m2, old building, furnished. 2 small bedrooms, small living room, kitchen and
bathroom. 2 ACs, 1 TV. We pay for our own broadband, utilities; landlord pays management fee to
the building.
Rent: 2750Y a month, paid quarterly; 1 month security deposit. Lease started May 2006.
Location: Dingxi Rd, 2 min from Zhongshan Park, Shanghai.
Found via: Liked the neighborhood, walked into a couple of real estate offices, hit the jackpot on
the third one. Signed the next day.
Lease: Originally 1 year. We're breaking 3 months early because we want to be settled into a
long-term rental by June for personal reasons; so were helping the landlord find a new tenant.

We also looked at some really cool old Shanghai "new-style" alleyway housing when we were looking
for this place, but they come in two flavors: 1) cheap, but with shared kitchen/bathroom, or 2)
expensive, with private facilities. One place downtown right off of People's Square behind the
bird and turtle pet market had four showerheads connected to four water meters aimed at a single
bathtub! The better half vetoed that one










roddy -

Bump for this one, in case any of the Spring Festival arrivals would like to contribute. Or anyone
else, indeed.










venture160 -

Type of accomodation: Rented apartment

CITY: Beijing, Haidian District
Description: one room in a apartment with 5 other rooms. Had a large porch that I used as a living
space. Shared bathrooms and kitchen.
Rent: 1450rmb a month, one time 3 months fee. Internet was 50rmb/month utilities were about 40
rmb/month
Location: 5 Minute walk from west gate of Ren Da. 10 minute walk to BeiWai
Found via: Chinese friends
Lease: 3 months then renewed for another 4.
Came with: Bed, desk, dresser, A/C, TV w/dvd
Notes.













mr.stinky -

City: Kunming, Yunnan

Type of accomodation: Rented apartment (http://www.waiyn.com/gb/b6.sb3.1.htm)

Description: 65m2, 2006 building, unfurnished. 24th floor with 3 elevators.
kitchen with many cabinets, large living room, one bedroom, one bath with h2o htr.
small terrace with washer outlets.

Rent: 650Y a month, paid semi-annually. if annually may get a discount. monthly fees
(maintenance, tv, elevator, water pump) total about 100Y/month.

Location: new northern district of kunming, 25-minute (1Y) bus ride to the front gates
of yunnan uni or yunnan abnormal. 5-minute bus ride to carrefour or metro. 30 minutes
to the main train station on the new red express bus. add another 15 minutes if
changing busses to the airport. taxi fare to/from downtown clubs about 20Y.

Found via: real estate office.

Lease: six months, with a 1000Y deposit. lease will be up in june. i'm told that although
rents are rising in this area, the landlord may not increase the rent.

Came with: loads of cabinets in the kitchen!!

Landlord / Building management: very responsive. found a few problems when i moved
in, management agent called the landlord who was over within 20 minutes. had workers
on the scene that afternoon.

Notes. there are many units available in this area, with new high-rises under construction.
same size units can be found as low as 550/month, or larger (85m2) units for the same
price, some with toilets and tubs. i went for this one as there are no vacant lots within
yelling distance, there are three elevators, 7-minute walk to the bus station with about
15 lines, and the kitchen is larger than a postage stamp (room for the fridge!).










imron -

Type of accomodation: Rented room.
City/Area: Wudaokou, Beijing.
Description: 1 bedroom in a 3 bedroom apartment. Shared kitchen, bathroom and living room. The
shared areas are tiny, but my room is reasonably large.
Rent: 1550Y a month, paid every 6 months, plus a 1 month deposit. Rent includes all water,
electricity and internet. Lease started at the end of Feb 07.
Location: About halfway between Wudaokou station and Tsinghua University.
Found via: Classified ad online.
Came with: Double-bed, desk, wardrobe. Shared facilities include fridge, microwave, washing
machine, etc.
Landlord / Building management: Landlord lives close by. All dealings so far have been through one
of the other tenants.
Notes:It's not the newest, or cleanest of buildings, but the rent isn't too expensive and the
location is ideal.










skylee -

City - Hong Kong

Type of accommodation - Rented apartment

Description - 559 sq ft, unfurnished, well-maintained 20 year old building in a private housing
estate of 50 multi-storey buildings, some of which are on the waterfront (mine faces the hills). 2
bedrooms, 1 living room, 1 bathroom, 1 kitchen.

Rent - HKD6,900 rent & HKD750 mgmt fee a month, paid in cheques monthly (I gave 12 pre-dated
cheques to the landlord one year in advance). Rent exclusive of utility charges. 2-month security
deposit. Lease started in April 2003.

Location - Heng Fa Chuen, with a metro station just downstairs, very convenient yet quiet.

Found via - real estate agency.

Lease - 2-year, then 1-year. The current lease is 2-year.

Came with - 3 air-conditioners, many cupboards/wardrobes, curtains, gas stoves.

I broke the tap on the bathtub the day I moved in (thanks to strong brother trying to do something
to the shower) and the landlord arranged to replace it with no nonsense at all.










zhwj -

Type of accomodation: Rented apartment.
City/Area: Chaoyang, Beijing.
Description: Ostensibly a 54 sq. m. 2-bedroom, 5th floor (of 5) apartment, but I use the larger
bedroom as a living room/study because what's called the common room is fairly small. Furnished
but spartan.
Rent: 2000/mo on a 3mo+1mo schedule. Utilities (except for heating) are extra. 1-year lease.
Location: Xinyuanjie, (inside Sanyuanqiao) A nice, shady community.
Found via: Community service center - fee was substantially cheaper than the standard agency rates
of 1mo rent.
Came with: Standard furniture & household electronics.
Landlord / Building management: Rented through an agency, which probably adds 200/mo to the rent.
Landlord is fairly nice, too.

This is a very nice neighborhood; buildings are probably early 80s. Nice access to bus
transportation; subway is a 10 minute bike ride away.












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