Living in Beijing for 5 months!

[Ann.2105]

Hi, my name is Annie I am going to Beijing this September 2014, Tsinghua university for an Exchange program. I need to find off campus accommodation. But I am unable to figure out what should I do. I have been advised to pay only after going to Beijing. But i am not sure how many days it will take to find a room in a nice apartment. Also I have two conditions for apartment sharing. Firstly I need to share it with only girls and secondly I need a modern/newly constructed washroom. Plus I want a decent place within 2500-2700 yuan?. If I have to pay after personally checking the room is it possible to find my ideal apartment in two/three days. I might also appreciate if any girl going to Wudaoko and planning to rent can conider me as a flatmate. or any girl who has already rented and wants to share to keep her costs down.

Thanks for help in advance. Cheers

[Tianjin42]

You should be able to find something pretty rapidly. You can check and apartments and also post what you are looking for here: www.thebeijinger.com in the classifieds. Good luck. 

[ChTTay]

See this thread from new Tsinghua language students

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/45658-living-off-campus-tsing-hua-university-2014-2015/#comment-345019

[Franzh7]

I got mine on echinacities -  http://classifieds.echinacities.com/Beijing/Apartments-for-Rent

it has a pretty good selection 

[Ann.2105]

So can anyone also suggest a place where I can stay while apartment search!

[Ann.2105]

@ Tianjin42

Thank you for replying

Can you share your experience of finding apatment ? Probably i am too worried but experience of someone who has successfully found a place might help me with my search.

[ChTTay]

There is a hostel in Wudaokou called the "Peking University Hostel". I have heard mixed reports but it could be okay for a few days. A friend had a single room there and said it was fine... Just no windows!

Otherwise you could stay in a hotel in Wudaokou. There are two that are central that I know of and i've put links below. The first one, He Jia in, is essentially in Hua Qing Jia Yuan apartment complex. I am sure you will end up looking at places here. The second one is near the main mall in Wudaokou and cinema. Also very central.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294212-d1464542-Reviews-Hejia_Inn_Beijing_North_4th_Ring_Road-Beijing.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g294212-d1420569-Reviews-Wudaokou_Hotel-Beijing.html

[Tianjin42]

No problem. I think that all the suggestions here are pretty good and it seems that different methods might be called for for different people. I have found an apartment through the Beijinger previously hence my advice. I simply had a look on the site, contacted a few I that matched my spec and then arranged viewings. The ones I selected were posted by the tenants themselves so there was no agent fee. 

 

One thing to check might be if everything is legal in terms of registering there as you will need to do. For example I had a friend who had everything sorted then the landlord only accepted payment in case and wasn't willing to allow the person to register they were living there (in relation to tax).