first time living in beijing- to share or rent alone

[northern_guy]

I'm planning of spending 2 weeks per month in Beijing starting in Jan/feb. I'm currently working in Italy in the oil and gas industry where I'm work 2 weeks on 2 weeks off for the next 6 months. I was in Beijing last month to study taiji there. I loved it and really liked the teacher.

My company pay for my flights so my idea was to go to Beijing for 2 weeks every month, I'm currently living in England and find my 2 weeks at home very boring!

I don't know anyone in Beijing apart from this taiji teacher and i'm not sure whether to rent an apartment alone or look for a house/flat share. I was thinking a flat/house share would be an easier way to meet people and much more social.

I'm a 36 yr old guy who enjoys going out to bars and clubs.

Any advice?

[roddy]

You can meet people either way - there's no shortage of bars and clubs, sports groups, events, etc. I think it's really just a question of whether or not you'd rather live with people for those two weeks, or not. Will probably be slightly easier to find an apartment by yourself, as otherwise you have to find people you like who've already found an apartment you like.

One issue though might be that at 36 you'll find most of the flatshares are people quite a bit younger than you - students and young employees, most likely. I'm not sure if that's an issue for you.

If I was you (I'm assuming you earn a tax-free fortune due to the industry you work in) I'd just rent an apartment myself. Meeting people in Beijing isn't all that difficult, especially if you're a fan of bars and clubs.