BNU accommodation - dorms and nearby apartments

[CharlesLi]

Is anyone here already at BNU or has plans to be there for the new semester?

I just received my admission notice and it specifies to log-on online and reserve a dorm.

So I log on and see a list of dorms but there is no option to reserve next to any of them.

I called them up today and the person told me they have no more vacancies. I asked if I have to find my own apartment and she just said 'yes'.

At the risk of sounding negative, I felt she wasn't telling the truth. Is this a common occurrence in other unis such as tsinghua and BLCU?

How difficult is it to find reasonably priced accommodation near the campus?

[Gus]

The dorm situation at BNU is pretty confusing right now because Lanhui apartments are being renovated next semester, and now the foreign student office is in a sticky situation where they've promised more dorms to the scholarship students than they can provide, so I wouldn't be surprised if they really are out of space. You should make sure you call all of them to make sure, though. Number 1, Number 2, Number 3, Xinsong

Are you a scholarship student? If so you should be entitled to a dorm no matter what.

[Mulletious]

Finding an apartment in the area is very easy. There are tons of real estate companies just south of the campus near the 小西天 bus station: 我爱我家，链家，Century 21, etc. Not sure how much you are looking to pay however.

[CharlesLi]

Mulletious:Finding an apartment in the area is very easy. There are tons of real estate companies just south of the campus near the 小西天 bus station: 我爱我家，链家，Century 21, etc. Not sure how much you are looking to pay however.

Easy? how so? any chance those real estate companies speak English? budget's probably 80 yuan per day

I appreciate any help

[ms.foo]

I was searching through related topics and it seems people complain about lack of dorm availability on the BNU online system every year. I've been watching the dorms list daily since before the reservation period began (5/17), and at no point has anything other than XinSong double rooms been available. I'm annoyed because I know I haven't waited too long, and the availability of half-decent single rooms (at least on paper) was one of my main reasons for applying to BNU. The double room is just not going to work, and the thought of having to arrange off-campus housing on top of everything else right now is stressing me out.

Does anyone have any insights as to why nothing is ever available, and what I can expect the dorm situation to be like later in the summer? Is this something where they keep rooms locked up until after scholarships have been announced and CGS students' arrangements have been made? Are they reserved for exchange programs w/ foreign unis? Are they just trying to fill up XinSong first for some reason, and more buildings will become available later? Or should I plan on grabbing one of these rooms for the first two weeks and having to apartment hunt when I get there? I was told via e-mail to call a number (it appears to be either for the Liyun or Lan Hui buildings) with this question, but given the exchange upthread, I'm not confident it will help much.

@CharlesLi and anyone else with experience: how has this worked out for you? Did dorms open up later, or did you end up living off campus? My budget is similar (80 RMB/day).

[a.bermejoj]

Hello everyone,

I will study chinese next year at BNU. My schoolarship awarded me a B2 apartment, which is a 2 bedroom apartment with shared bathroom and small shared living-room.

To whom has been at BNU Dorms, is possible to share the apartment man and woman? Because a friend will also study there next year and we would like to share the same apartment with two bedrooms. Some advice?

thanks!