Where to rent in Beijing

[Johnny20270]

I am just looking at apartments to rent places in Beijing. I am surprised by the prices! My Chinese friend is looking for me and it appears I have to pay 7000 upwards for a 1 bed near Chaoyang as zhouhaochen noted in a different post.  

 

However, I notice from living in London a long time that many foreign students coming here often rent a place within walking distance near the school or university and thus prices are somewhat higher / quality lower. Many don't consider moving further away to avail of cheaper and better quality places, and could easily take public transport to their school. 

 

Is this the same in Beijing? For example, I see there many language schools in Beijing are centered around Chaoyang, or in that square around line 1,2 ,10, airport express. Would it be worth living further down line 10 (jinsong, panjiayaun) or further out around line 1 (sihui, gaobeidian) etc

 

I don't mind travelling 30-40mins every day to a school, so really would be looking for

(1) quieter place. Is that possible in Beijing? ) 

(2) area that a western person wouldn't be expected to go. When I stay over the east Beijing or South east I practically never see any western people!

(3) an upmarket area residential places, i.e. typically what an affluent Chinese professional would look for  

 

I will pay up to 10,000 a month for a one bed but would prefer to keep it around 7000 - 8000

 

All comments welcome! 

 

John

 

 

 

[ChTTay]

Depending on where yoh live, Beijing can offer good value. Obviously the further out you are, the cheaper apartments tend to be. My friends who live in shijingshan district can pay 2700 for a one bedroom or around 3500-5000 for a fairly large two bedroom.

By Chinese language schools, you mean private language schools? Many of the Universities that offer courses are in Haidian district. A lot of apartments round here can be let per room so are cheaper per person. You can find a room in a shared apartment for, at best, 1500 but usually around 2500. My place os 4200 for a one bedroom (not a studio) Thats in Wudaokou. If you live somewhere else in Haidian you can find better deals i'm sure. Wudaokou is very popular with foreign students so prices are high.

For 10,000 you could find an insanely good place. I don't even think it's necessary to pay this much in Beijing for a good place. Unless you want to live jn very affluent areas with lots of foreigners and rich chinese people.

[Johnny20270]

Hi ChTTay, Yes, I mean private language schools, not universities. Most seem around chaoyang so Haidian,Wudaokou or shijingshan are long way away.

But good actually, if there is a Pryce premium in an area because there are a lot of expats then that's exactly what I don't want

[icebear]

Your Chinese skills and bargaining-sense have a huge impact on what you'll see - that is, what your agent will show you. I have a recently refurbished, nice, 2 bedroom near Chaoyangmen for about 6k. Very easy to find decent 1-2 bedroom hutongs within the second ring for around 4k. If you are only able to speak English and don't have a good deal of confidence with agents you'll only see higher end/higher price properties.

 

For your criteria:

1) Try the hutongs

2) Try the hutongs near Dongsi, which has good transport links throughout Chaoyang/the city

3) Shuangjing is popular with yuppies, but bad value for money - keep in mind who you are competing with for those apartments...

[icebear]

Neglected to add this - you'll find that the difference in price between 1- and 2-bedrooms is usually negligible - usually around 5k+ for 1 bedroom apartments or 6k+ for 2 bedrooms. Cheaper by about a thousand or more for hutongs of similar size. 

 

Housing in Beijing isn't designed for single adults - its design for a married couple with one child. Thus, 75-90 square meter 2-bedroom units are the most common. As a result, anything else you look at (1 bedrooms, studios) will have a weaker supply. Try looking at a few 2-bedrooms to consider the price difference and value, and if a study room or room mate to split the cost is a worthwhile consideration.

[Johnny20270]

Ok great advice thanks!

My Chinese friend will do the apartment hunting and bargaining She is just waiting for me to decide on area but is not from Beijing so may not familiar with all areas.

She has sent me typical links of apartments but are these prices fixed or can you bargain?

[Simon_CH]

I honestly don't think there is a point in remote appartment searching. You really have to find an area where you're comfortable by visiting yourself. And saying that commuting is no problem for you may be understandable from a London perpective but it's a completely different situation here. Personally I'm very glad I don't have to take the metro for my daily commute, but you'll have to try that a few times yourself during rush hour before you commit to an area. Chaoyang area is generally quite a bit more expensive, but not so much because of expats (a negligable number anyway) but because of upper middle class Chinese who also own or rent an appartment there. Chaoyang is where the money and the good jobs are.

[zhouhaochen]

I agree that it is better to look for an apartment once you are in Beijing. Find some temporary solution for the first month and then search while you are here if you want a good deal.

If you do not mind traveling a little bit to your school in Chaoyang, I would recommend to have a look at Sihui/Sihui Dong or Shuangjing/Jinsong. Both areas have good subway connections into the busier areas of town, but rent is cheaper. If you go another one or two subway stops out, for example gaobeidian or Communication University on the Batong line, it gets a lot more affordable.

If your school is in Chaoyang, then living in Wudaokou makes no sense. It is far and in general more expensive than the areas mentioned above.

 

That said, in all areas there are bad/good deals, so looking around is important.

[studychinese]

A warning - remote searching is completely useless. Real estate agents will lie to you and send you fake photos, properties, prices, etc. 

 

You may turn up asking to see such a such property and they will take you to a completely different one with a different price and so on. This is common practice, and isn't considered lying by the real estate agents. Rather they say that their advertisements are just a general guide, not a notice of a specific place to rent.

[Lu]

Where you want to live really depends on where you're going to go to school. Chaoyang is as big as a decent-sized city. I lived in Shuangjing and worked just north of Sanlitun and it took about 20 mins-half an hour door to door, and that wasn't even a very long commute. You mention that you don't mind a commute, so that's good. If you can avoid it, make sure you don't need to change metros, you really don't want to do that every day in rush hour.

If I were you I wouldn't commit to anything before you get to Beijing. In my experience (few years ago, but still) places to live are not hard to find there, so best find some kind of other accomodation for the first week or so (hostel, hotel). Once you get there, figure out which neighbourhood you want to live, go there with your Chinese friend and find some agents in that neighbourhood to show you some apartments. There's usually some room for negotiation in the prices.

Keep in mind that most landlords want you to sign for at least 6 months but rather a year. And you usually need to pay several months' rent plus deposit on taking a place, so make sure you have enough Chinese money at that point.

[Johnny20270]

Thanks Guys / Girls, all good points. Ok so maybe best to wait and see from the general advice above.  

 

As for travelling on the metro, I guess it depends on what time each day the courses start.  A lot seem to start at 8:30am which means rush hour on metro but its only a few stops I think I can hack it (hopefully). They end at 12:30pm or 3:30pm so I can avoid the going home during rush hour. In any case I would look at getting a scooter to commute

[icebear]

Depending on where your school is in Chaoyang, you may be better off living in Dongcheng very near the east 2nd ring. Its more or less Chaoyang but the prices are generally better. Anywhere between line 5 and east 2nd ring has good supply of apartments, hutongs, mid-to-low end (for high end you'll need to go further out of the center). 

 

Also strongly agree that searching remotely is a huge waste of your time, and to avoid a long metro commute, especially if commuting during the normal 9-5 crush. If you are both living and working in Chaoyang or nearby there is no reason you shouldn't buy a bicycle or e-bike - either will completely transform your experience with the city.

[Johnny20270]

Hi icebear, 

 

yes its definitely more high end apartment  I want and willing to do a longer (& more painful) commute to live in a nicer place. Maybe its an age thing but my days in living in smelly, crap places are over  I am the type of person that needs a quieter place for a home life. 

 

I read your advice on getting a scooter while in Beijing. Definitely going to buy a scooter or whatever I can get without needing a licence / allowable for foreigner to driver in Beijing. 

[icebear]

I am just looking at apartments to rent places in Beijing. I am surprised by the prices!

 

yes its definitely more high end apartment

 

 

That's fine, but keep in mind that Beijing's high-end is expensive - you are competing with all the millionaires in the country that haven't left for Canada/Australia/EU/US for a relatively limited supply of "high-end" apartments. Generally the prices should be at least 1.5-2x higher than what I mentioned above - e.g. studios or one-bedrooms might start at 7-8k and average even higher.

[Simon_CH]

Also high-end here often means more expensive location and looks/furniture of the appartment rather than quality construction.

 

Expect to pay around 8-12k for a more solid building with ok noise and heat insulation.

[Johnny20270]

I guess I'm so used to London prices now..  A single bedroom (2.5m x 3m) in a shared 4 bed apartment in would cost the equivalent of 7000 - 8000 yuan

 

And a two bedroom apartment (50m2) is around 20,000 (yuan equivalent) in nice enough area. 

 

So it seems to be from what you guys are saying is that its a law of diminishing returns as regards price v standard, and the 7000/8000 mark is about the right price for what I want. My thinking is that if I'm going to a language school and its only 3 - 4 hours per day so a longer commute is tolerable. 

 

My friend lives in Taoranting at the moment and although its a bit ugly the lack of tall buildings and having taoranting park nearby is very nice indeed! Thats what I would like if possible. She is going to have a browse around that area to the left of panjiayuan or metro so see what its like. So about 6 stops at most on line 10 to any of  LTL / CLE / Hutong or BICC

 

As regards avoid getting a place before I come, Yes good points indeed but I trust my friends judgement as she knows my likes / dislikes, has lived in UK for years so knows my "wish list", inbuilt air-conditioning not some free standing unit, and a nice bathroom 

[Lu]

I don't know what the situation on line 10 currently is, but about a year and a half ago, when I left, you could not get on the metro at Shuangjing during rush hour as all of southern Beijing was already on the train. I'm not exaggerating, you could literally not get on as the train was full. I switched to the bus. Perhaps someone currently in Beijing can weigh in, but you may need to avoid a rush hour commute on line 10.

As mentioned in another thread a while ago, the commute to school is one thing, but the commute to fun is also something you need to keep in mind. Shuangjing (and Jinsong, Panjiayuan etc) are nice enough places to live, but a lot of the things that are going on are a bit further north and it can be a somewhat exhausting prospect to have to travel half an hour to a quick beer in a nice bar, knowing that you'll spend another half hour finding a taxi once you want to go home again. This is of course partly solved when you get a scooter, but still.

[icebear]

Perhaps someone currently in Beijing can weigh in, but you may need to avoid a rush hour commute on line 10.

 

Line 10 remains the worst line to commute on, and east Line 10 (which includes the stops mentioned) is especially painful. If you look at at a map of Beijing it has an enormous catchment area and also eliminates the need for switch for a lot of distance commuters - which means getting on for a 6 stop ride is extremely aggravating. I suggest choosing a place within biking distance.

[ChTTay]

Kind of off topic but I find "west" line 10 to be an excellent journey and I usually end up with a seat. I go from Zhichunli to Gongzhufen.

One thing with a longer commute, you might start hating the fact that if you just lived closer to your school, you would have more time to study and use your time better. That 2 hour round commute could be spent studying or going out talking to people. On the other hand, that time could mean finishing studying sooner and being able to go do other things. You can study on the subway but i find its not the best place to do anything beyond flashcards or an easyish podcast, especially when you don't have a seat. That might just be me though.

[Johnny20270]

Hi ChTTay,

I think an hours total commute is fine for me. For me a nicer home in a residential is much more important. I have spent 12/13 years in the London Financial District and god it is sole destroying! So its good to be able to escape that after hours. Far too old for clubs and night life these days and definitely want to be away from the hussle and bussle as much as possible when I go home.  

 

I like the west side. problem is I couldn't find any language schools there, all seem to be clumped together around the east side of the city

 

Icebear / Lu: ok looks like I might be underestimating the commute headache. At a wild guess, what do you guys think is a sensible distance to travel on scooter in 30 mins say. Could I get from jinsong to tuanjiehu? 5.5km by google maps so thats what, ... 11kph average speed. Seems ok!

 

 

 

PS: Thanks all for your help. Lots of great people on this forum. I'll try "give" rather than "take" in the future when I have actually something sensible to contribute