Renting apartment, 3000 rmb ~ per month or so

[Razumihin]

I am a student studying in Wudaokou. However dorms and apartments in this area seem to be quite expensive and I was thinking about renting a bit further away as I don't really need to live in Wudaokou area.

 

How much are the prices a bit further away from center or other cheaper areas? I'm willing to use 2500-3500 yuan per month and I need to find one bedroom apartment or studio. Where should I go looking? As long as I can take subway in 1 hour to Wudaokou it doesn't matter that much where it is.

[ChTTay]

Are you really willing to commute an hour every day, twice a day to school? Try doing it for a week and see if you feel the same at the end. Also, even if you manage to do some podcasts or flashcards, it still isn't a great environment and can 'feel' like wasting time.

 

I take it you really don't want to share with others? If you shared with other foreigners you could easily find a room in your price range.

 

Which University are you at? When I was at Tsinghua a single was 2400. Is this no longer the case？

 

If you really want to look at other areas, I'd suggest looking North/South of Wudaokou on line 13. At least then you don't have to change lines. There are likely buses that also do that route.

 

Liudaokou could also be an option and it's connected to the rest of BJ via line 15 now.

[Lu]

I would expect that if you go further north (well, away from the center, which in case of Wudaokou is north), rents go down a bit. Even more so if you get a place far from the metro (and perhaps commute by bus/scooter). If you want to go this route, my advice would be to take a bus/metro as far as you're willing to go, get off and look for housing agencies there.

 

But if I were you, I'd get a smaller place if I wanted to save money, not one that is further away. Two hours of commuting a day drains your energy, and since all or most of your friends will be in or near Wudaokou, you can easily end up travelling even more, or not going out that much.