Hey
I've just arrive in Beijing for an initial two month internship in an Architects office. I have company by way of another internee (is this a word) who came out a month before I did.
Along with an array of questions on how Beijing works we're really keen to work out where will be best for us to live and how much it really costs.
We've been told that for a two bedroom flat we should be looking in the region of 6000 RMB. We think that we'd like to live in or close to an expat area whilst being in a good commuting distance from our office near Xizhimen.
And then generally anything tips on making friends and settling in...
Thanks!
Just arrived trying to suss it all out
NatalieGrace
28 April 2011 10:50:03
4
Yud
28 April 2011 12:02:37
7031
Welcome on Expat-Blog NatalieGrace 
florenceeli
28 April 2011 18:31:36
3
Hey Natalie, I will be starting my internship in Beijing in mid-may and I am looking for an apt or a room to stay. I don't know about Xizhimen, but from what I have checked online, sometimes you can get a two-bedroom apt for like 3500-4000 RMB a month (they don't look good though).
Armand
29 April 2011 07:34:26
24785
Hi florenceeli!
Welcome on Expat.com 
Armand
florenceeli
01 May 2011 04:45:53
3
Hey thanks Armand
NatalieGrace
04 May 2011 07:23:25
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Yeah, florenceeli, we have come to realise that you'll need to spend more in the region of 6000. This is just from talking to various people though. We've not viewed any yet.
Feel free to get intouch when you arrive and maybe we can do some exploring...
lindabeijing
09 May 2011 09:25:07
1
Hi ,Natalie .welcome you to beijing.there is a lot of funs here. Around XIzhimen there is not so many apts for foreigner. Most of them are in the east part of the city.
florenceeli
16 May 2011 17:44:04
3
hey Natalie, I sent u a message
lee-beijing
19 May 2011 03:23:45
5
6000 RMB is a foreign pricetag!!!!
You may well be ripped off for paying such an amount in Beijing.
Manlin
19 May 2011 04:11:01
1073
You get what you pay for.
Of course it is possible to find apartments far below 6,000RMB/month.
Depends on location, size and quality.
My part of town you can find a small place in a nearby nongcun for a few hundred RMB for a small (literally) one room. Public squat latrine and shower a few minutes walk away, cook outside on a coal burner -are you prepared to live in that type of environment?
That is of course an extreme. The point is that there is a huge range in prices though you might have to travel. As a rule of thumb places with lots of foreigners are more expensive.
How about asking the Chinese people in your office for information about their apartment compounds. I doubt if the office secretary is paying anything like that since 6,000 could be two or three times more than her salary.
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