Blcu Summer June 24-July 21

[KellyL]

Hey y'all,

I'll be attending BLCU this summer for a month from June 24th till July 21st. Who's gonna be there???

And being the procrastinator that I am, I called housing today, and apparently, there are no more rooms in all the dorms, dorm 17 as well as the conference center. I plan to call everyday to inquire. However, does anyone know of any apartments/rooms or hotels nearby which are reasonable? And what do you think my chances are of getting a room at either dorm 17 and the CC even though they said there are none available.

Looking forward to meeting y'all.

[lordnikon]

I am going to BLCU for the same time, I guess I will see you there, I am actually leaving next week, I actually just rented an apartment there, it is cheaper than the dorms, you should look check the classifieds on this and other chinese expat forums to see if anyone is subletting a room, also dont forget to check out the long post about housing here http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/5781-blcu-beijing-language-and-culture-university-housing-info-and-more/ if all else fails there are plenty of hotels in the area and you can just stay in one of the hotels there, the beijinger has a good classified section http://www.thebeijinger.com/

[Scoobyqueen]

I plan to call everyday to inquire.

Isnt that a bit rude considering you left it too late?

[KellyL]

LordNikon, thanks for the acc tips. Will look into it ASAP. Are you gonna travel outside of Beijing before sch starts? Neways, guess I'll see you soon.

Scoobyqueen, on normal circumstances, I would say yes. But a friend did that 2 years back, and managed to get a room a week later. It's worth a try, I suppose.

[MirroRobin]

I actually applied a couple of days ago, kind of a last-minute decision. Have no idea if they will still accept my application, even though their website said the deadline was May 31st. In any case, I will probably need to find myself a place to stay as well. I plan on being in Beijing during that period anyway, if I don't get into this program I'll maybe look for some private school. I hear there are many in the area. Hopefully I will get into BLCU's program, though. It might not the best in terms of learning the language, but I don't expect to reach fluency in a month anyway (I've only done some light studying for a year or so) so meeting new people and having a good time is just as important. I think BLCU is perfect for that

[lordnikon]

Yeah i might travel outside of beijing, i was thinking about going to shanghai i have not decided yet, send me a pm with your msn or qq if you want, see you in beijing

MirroRobin the reason for the deadline is because it takes a couple of weeks for them to get JW202 form from the government office which is needed for applying for visa, if you told them you did not need help applying for visa i would not doubt that they would accept you the day before the program started

[MirroRobin]

That sounds good, thanks for pointing that out. I'll try emailing them tomorrow to get a definitive answer.

[MirroRobin]

I just emailed them all the necessary documents and I've paid the application fee, so it looks like you'll be seeing me at BLCU this summer as well

[AprilTulip]

Hello everyone! :rolleyes:

Wonder if anybody has the same problem as I do. BLCU doesn't want to send me JW202 form and I can't apply for student visa without it. Did you get your JW202 forms?

Also, what about housing? Did it work with CC and dorm 17? I called to CC they keep saying they don't have rooms. And I called dormitory service, they said they have rooms just for July :blink: ...

[KellyL]

Hey AprilTulip, I received my JW202 from BLCU 2 weeks after I applied. Not sure why they're not sending you yours, maybe you could try calling the admissions office to inquire?

Regarding housing, there are lots of apartments in the BLCU area. Unfortunately, getting a room at CC and the dorms are pretty tough atm.

Good luck, and hopefully I'll see you there this summer.

[MirroRobin]

I still haven't had any luck with finding accommodation for the summer either. I've been looking for a private apartment near BLCU, but it's quite hard to find online. Classifieds at thebeijinger.com are flooded with agents and most apartments are for 6 months or longer. I was hoping my budget of 2500-3000 RMB/month would make it easy to find something, but up until now that's not the case. Anyone got any tips? Do you think it would be easier by just staying in a hotel for the first couple of days and finding something when already in Beijing? How?

[lordnikon]

it is going to be difficult to find an apartment to rent for one month with your budget, I am currently staying staying in an apartment in Dizhi across from blcu for 2600 but i had to sign lease for one year, i guess i will have to find someone to sublet it to afterwards. The amount of real estate agents is prolific there is one on every corner they stand in the road with signs for places to rent, it is pretty difficult to find a place that is not being rented by an agent so you will have to search a lot harder if you want do not want to pay the agent fee. You should look into trying to find serviced apartments which are more expensive and more for foreigners and usually allow for short stays

[roddy]

Try the sublets and seeking roommate sections - your best bet is to find someone away for the summer who wants to cover their rent, or an apartment with a spare room where they don't mind a short term stay. Put your own ad up too.

[greenarcher]

If you are willing to share a flat with other people then finding an apartment when you get to Beijing will not be a problem. You can get a 5-month rent for a room inside BLCU but the flats are mostly old; rent is around 1,500RMB per month.

If you want your own place then that would be a problem as studio/1BR units around Wuadaokou and Liudaokou are around 3,000 at the least.

[MirroRobin]

Thanks to all of you. I guess I will have to stretch my budget a little bit, because having a private studio/apartment really does have my preference. I'll try putting up an ad on thebeijinger again, even though the last one I put up didn't really get me any result.

[eLizza16]

Hi all,

I just arrived in Beijing a couple of days ago and visited the school yesterday to figure out dorm arrangements. It's true - all the dorms are completely booked. So, what the Dorm Booking lady told me was that there are plenty of dorms available at the university right next door. I visited it and it's three to a room with a Western-style bathroom. The rate is approximately 180 RMB a night - but don't quote me on that, I can't remember exactly. The campus is nice with plenty of trees. Surprisingly, I haven't heard much English if any at all, which worries me b/c my Chinese is pretty much non-existent.

Anyways, post on here if you have any questions. Hopefully, I'll be able to meet some of you in just a couple of days!

[MirroRobin]

Wow that price looks a little steep to me, for a three-to-a-room apartment. You're already staying there? How do you like the apartment itself?

I finally arrived in Beijing yesterday, staying at Xijiao hotel. If anybody else is around here send me a message so we can meet up!

Plan for today is to buy a sim card to I can call some people that placed ads on thebeijinger.com...

[zansibal]

Came today. I am also attending the four week course. Currently staying in a 6-bed room in Weiming Youth Hostel (未名国际青年旅舍)‎ on the west side of the Wudaokou-station, 70 rmb/night (cheapest is 8-bed romm for 60 rmb/night). I was going to check for a dorm-room tomorrow but I guess there is no hope then. Is that 3 person 1 room thing 180 rmb each or together? If it's 180 rmb together then I wouldn't mind that option (180 rmb each sounds ridiculously expensive).

[candice.]

Hey all

I'll also be in Beijing for the summer course however I don't arrive until the 23rd and won't actually make it to campus until late afternoon/early evening (around 5-6ish). Does anyone know what time the registration office closes? Will there be anyone there from the university at that time to assist me?

I am worried because this is the last day for check-in and my admission letter said that if you haven't checked in by the start date (24th) your place in the course will be forfeited.

Thanks!

[MirroRobin]

Arriving that late may be a very big problem, since the registration office closes at 5pm. Moreover, some of the other departments that you have to visit in order to complete your registration close at 4pm. I'd recommend you give them a call in order to arrange something. Good luck!

I went through all the registration procedures together with zansibal today. Took us about 1.5 hours to complete everything. They sent me from office to bank, to office, to office, etc. It's quite a lot of work, but it all went pretty smoothly. They even arranged some VERY good housing for us. They sent us to 'Beijing Mining and Technology University', which is right next BLCU and very close to all the classrooms. Apparently BLCU has made some kind of deal with this university (we suspect) because of the lack of housing for foreigners on BLCU campus right now. We weren't sure what to expect, but the 'dorm' we were sent to is actually a hotel! It costs 70rmb per night per person if you stay in a 2 person room with 2 people, although you will need to pay per room (so 140rmb). This really is extremely cheap considering the kind of room you're going to get. You'll have your own private bathroom, a TV, nice looking beds and I think they'll even clean your room every day (I saw cleaning ladies at least). If you don't mind staying in a room with someone else, this is definitely the way to go. I don't know how many rooms are meant for BLCU students though, so I'd be quick.