Accommodation in outer suburbs of Shenzhen

Hi,
I am an older Australian and have a chinese wife from Wuhan and I hope to retire in Shenzhen. We want to live permanently in Shenzhen. Does anyone in the forum know where the best places are to rent an apartment that is in the outer suburbs (not Huizhou) that is say--200 to 1000 meters from a metro station. We have lived in Shenzhen on and off over the last 4 years but not continuously and would now like to settle permanently in Shenzhen.

Your best bet would be in Buji.  It has a very convenient subway station,  which is surrounded with new apartment complexes.  The pricing is very reasonable. It is on the Long Gong line and the HuangZhong Line. Where they intersect is BuJi.

Typically, I would not advise expats to live on the Northern outskirts of Shenzhen, as you are getting near the factory and industrial parks.  However, Buji is different.  It has become a kind of upper-class island in that area.  Yet it still retains the "blue collar" pricing.

Three years ago, I was living in LouHu, and a colleague lived in BuJi. My apartment was one bedroom at around 55 m2 for just under 6000 RMB/month. He had a two bedroom, in BuJi for half that rate.

http://www.szcchina.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/shenzhen-metro-map.jpg

Expat areas are to be avoided.  If you think that downtown Louhu is expensive you should see the prices in "little USA" in SheKou. Yikes! A bottle of Becks beer will cost you 60 RMB, when you can get it in the nearby 7-11 for around 10 RMB.

Hi, Shenzhen2018.

I'm Zhongshan2018 and retired, too.  Welcome.  My suggestion is that you lease a place and look around to buy.  I lived in Nanshan, Shenzhen for a year back in 2004.  It is now
even more expensive and crowded there.  And super convenient. 

I invite you to visit Zhongshan (although I won't be here till August), more suitable for retiree.

It is cheaper, greener and more spacious here.  You can own a car in Zhongshan and be able to find parking easily in town.  Public transportation is just as good as in Shenzhen.

Zhongshan people are nice, gentle and more layback.  loads of expats and HongKongese reside here.

Hi Zhongshan 2018,
Thankyou for that, My wife and I went to Zhongshan about 2 years ago. We took the bus from Hong Kong to Shenzhen then another to Zhongshan. My wife really didn't want to go to Zhongshan but I wanted to see what a lesser known city in China looked and felt like. I must admit at the time it felt more countrified than other cities like Shenzhen and Shanghai. I was impressed by the memorial in the main street erected by the Americans I think reminding everyone about the victory of the proletariat over the Manchu rulers.
China is still a bit of a mystery to me, but a fascinating mystery, and after learning a few words in Mandarin I can see I need to get a workable "tongue" in the language if I want to make things easier for myself.
Can I please keep in contact with you, I would like to share experiences with you, I am Australian by the way and I presume you are American, is that correct.