Photos and stories about my expat experience in China, currently in Bejing.
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Sunday, December 07, 2008

Beijing

After returning to Beijing from Hong Kong, I quickly located a visa agent. This one can provide me with a 12 month visa for a reasonable price. This basically solves all my problems and I will apply next week.

My girlfriend and I stayed in a youth hostel for a week or so, and made plans. We looked for a place to live. There are many agents who rent out cheap apartments in Beijing. The cheapest rooms cost 100-150 Euros and are very small or located in old buildings with broken walls and no heating. A decent room costs 200+ Euros depending on the location. Anything within the fourth (!) ring road is more expensive than apartments in far away suburbs. We managed to find a place in the Puhuangyu area (8 subway stops from Tian'anmen Square; not too bad...) on the 17th floor. The size of the place is alright, but what I like most is the view: sunsets every night and we are located on a crossroads, literally on top of a subway station and a hypermart ('Wu Mart'). This means that we don't have to go outside this winter. We had to pay six months' rent in advance, which is not uncommon in China.

This week was spent buying various accessories and bedside tables, etc etc etc. Our apartment came with a bed, TV, fridge (with rotten food inside), desk and couch, but nothing else.

Five minutes after we received our key. Obviously, the place looks different now. Pictures will follow later.
The kitchen, before a 2 hour cleaning session


We're nearly completely settled now; just have to buy some plants and a new carpet. Next hurdle: look for a job (and money as I nearly spent all my savings by now)

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