Cheap housing near BIT

[Fropie]

Hi, I'm going to be at Beijing Institute of Technology for about a year. I'm trying to find cheap housing in the general area, and preferably something I can arrange BEFORE I get to Beijing. I'm arriving just 3 days before I have to register, and since I don't want to live in the dorms, I have to arrange housing and get some form from the police before I register.

Does anyone have suggestions for maybe a hotel/hostel in the area that gives good rates for long-term stays with private rooms? (Good, as in maximum $10 per night, but preferably less.) The dorms cost about $9/night, and that's sharing a room. I want to have my own room!

Also, assuming I can't arrange the long-term place beforehand, does anyone know whether I could just get a hotel for about 2 weeks while I look for a place and use the hotel address to register with the police, so I can register at school, and then just change it with police and school once I find my long-term residence?

Thanks in advance for any help!!!

[Qcash3]

Fropie, you should check the apartment listings at www.thatsbj.com, they have alot of pretty good cheap listings. I am not familiar with the BIT, where in beijing is it? Is it in Wudaokou?

[Fropie]

Hi Qcash3, thanks for your response. I was told that BIT is located in the Zhongguancun hi-tech area... but I don't know much more than that!

I've been checking the ads in thatsbj.com. I'm not sure though if 2 will be enough time to see a place, sign the lease, get to the police station, etc. That's why I'm wondering if I can just give the police a temporary address in order to register with my school, and then change it once I find a permanent place. Any ideas???

[gato]

Beijing Institute of Technology is 北京理工大学, I believe. It's in Haidian District on Zhongguancun Dajie, just south of Renmin University.

I don't know of any hotels/hostels in the below US$9/night (RMB 70) range. But if you need a place for a few days and can go up to US$25/night (~ RMB 200) , you can find a number of such places on elong.net.

See http://www.elong.net/hotels/search.aspx?x=0.27333620077841436

[Qcash3]

Fropie, I think you will be able to use a temp address and then change it once you get settled, but i'm not sure. I will be leaving for Beijing at the end of August, and my scholarship covers my housing costs but says nothing about where I will be housed . I will be arriving two weeks before I am required to register, but on the day that the semester officially starts so I am not sure if I will be secured a dorm room or anything. If worse comes to worse I will just bunk down in a hotel or hostel then sort out renting an apartment. Finding housing in China apparently is pretty easy once you get there. Are you already in Beijing?

[Fropie]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your help! I'm in touch with elong to see if they can work out some sort of deal for me on a place for a month, so I can have some time to look for an apartment.

Qcash -- I'm getting to Beijing at the end of August also. What school are you going to?

[Qcash3]

I am going to Tsinghua.