For some, home may be just “where you hang your hat;” for others, finding an apartment in Beijing, a city with more than 18 million people and 16 districts, is enough to give some people a panic attack as they agonize over the best location and how to go about renting a place.  Depending on your Chinese abilities, you may opt for roaming around with a map responding to classified ads and trying to haggle it out with the landlord, or choose the easier route of using a professional realtor. Many people opt for just finding apartments with other people who are looking for roommates. Indeed, this is a simpler way as long as you don’t mind living with people you don’t know. Beijing is filled with foreigners looking to live with other foreigners as well as many Chinese who are looking for Western roommates to practice their English with; this can obviously be beneficial to both parties who can improve their language skills.

Search for roommates

Where to Start:
Finding an apartment in China can seem daunting at first if you don’t know where to start, but in a big city where many people speak English, you can find an apartment in less than two weeks or so if you are willing to go out and look. If you are only coming for a few months, you might find that a serviced apartment with everything included might be your best option. These apartments are usually more expensive and charge by the day, week, or month, but are nicely furnished with good amenities and are conveniently located. They are more like hotels and have house cleaning and airport pick up. If you plan on coming to China for a longer period of time, there are two ways to go about renting apartments: you can use a real estate service, or you can use the classified section and your Chinese language skills.

Beijing realty services and apartment listings

For those of you not in Beijing, there in info on services in other cities at the end of the article.

Western or Chinese Style?
First of all, location, price, and style are interlinked; knowing where you want to live is the first step. In Beijing, deciding where to live based on where you work is critical. Remember that Beijing is a huge city; you could be facing a daily commute of over an hour. Know the different areas of town, research a bit, and decide whether you want a Chinese style apartment or a “Western” style apartment. Essentially, the main two annoyances for foreigners with the Chinese style apartments are: the kitchen and the bathroom. A Chinese bathroom may or may not have a Western style toilet and will not have a bathtub or a shower structure, but instead, a drain in the floor hidden in a corner nowhere in the vicinity of the shower head. The main issue with this is that the entire bathroom gets soaked whenever you take a shower and then you have to mop afterwards. While this is easy to get used to, some people will inevitably have the horrendous feeling that something is missing when they feel like a bath on a cold winter’s evening. In addition, Chinese kitchens typically have two gas burners to cook with instead of the four burners many Westerners are used to. Most kitchens in China, unless it is in a luxury apartment, will be without an oven. Washing machines in China use cold water only for the most part and should only be used on the delicate cycle. Also, the majority of apartments do not come with a tumble dryer but most Chinese apartments instead have some sort of balcony for hang drying clothes. Again, note you are exempt from this rule if you live in a luxury Western style apartment.

Furniture:
In China, it is possible to rent very nicely fully furnished apartments as well. Since most people don’t know exactly how long they will stay in China, this is usually the most convenient option. The apartments include everything from beds, tables, chairs, etc to paintings and even sometimes plants. However, Chinese furnishings and Western furnishings are different as well. Chinese furniture is for aesthetic purposes only and is usually beautiful, wooden, and extremely hard. Western furniture is what you are most likely used to: padded couches, softer beds, etc. Many landlord’s beam with pride and remind you that their furnishings came directly bought from Ikea, which though more expensive, has a nice array of furniture. No matter where you decide to live, many people feel that their beds in China are not as soft as they would like. However, there is a simple remedy for this: for a few hundred RMB you can get a 3 or 4 cm bed cushion to put on top of your mattress which works wonders for your back.

Signing the Lease/Legal Procedures
Once a suitable apartment has been chosen, usually three month’s rent plus an initial deposit is required and given directly to the landlord. If the lease is signed for a long period of time like a year, you may be able to negotiate a better price. If the total rent is less than 4000RMB then a fee is paid to the realtor agent who helped in the rental process. If the rent is above 4000RMB, then the fee is paid by the landlord directly to the realtor agent.

There should always be a contract, and it should be mostly in English for signing with an agreed lease period clearly stated. When signing a contract with roommates, ask if the contract is transferable. It’s important to initially settle this with the landlord in the case that one of you wants to move out before the agreed deadline. This makes it easier to find additional roommates because they only need to sign the lease as well and present themselves at the police station to register.

Each apartment is different so inquire into payment of water, gas, electricity, phone, internet, television, and heating when you sign the lease. Additionally, ask for a list of each and every item in the apartment at the time of moving in. If there are any visible defects like holes in the wall, etc., take pictures as to save yourself trouble later.

Once the lease has been signed and the apartment is available for living, the tenant has 24 hours to register at the closest police station with the signed lease. The landlord should accompany the tenant and show his or her documentation to the local police; the tenant’s passport and visa are checked and finally a registration paper is issued.

Useful Information: Essential Services You Need to Have
Some apartments have heating included into the apartment fee, while others will have you pay every few months. Services like tap water and gas are either included in the rent, or paid every month directly to the landlord. Tap water is not drinkable in Beijing, so you should invest in a water cooler dispenser (found at many supermarkets or Wal-Mart) for your hot and cold drinking water. Ask the landlord where the nearest water delivery service is. You must buy the initial bottle for the water cooler for around 60 RMB, depending on the brand of water you choose. After that, each time you reorder water, you will only pay 10-30 RMB for the refill.

The Magic Electricity Card
In China, electricity is paid by using rechargeable cards instead of receiving a monthly bill The landlord will initially give you this card with your lease- do NOT lose it or you will cause yourself a world of hassle. Most times you will have an electricity meter somewhere outside your apartment, or if you live certain buildings, the maintenance people will keep track of the levels and advise you when you are getting low on funds.

The card works like this: You must put money on the electricity card and stick it in the meter to recharge it. The card itself can be recharged two ways: you can usually recharge it directly in a bank machine in the entrance (not an ATM) with your Chinese bank card, or you can wait and go to the counter and pay directly in cash.

The important thing to note about the electricity card is this: when your money runs out so does your electricity- all of your electricity. You will not have any warning; your electricity will go out. The problem herein lies with the fact that banks close around 5 pm and you can’t go recharge it until the next day. Make sure that every month you put enough money in the card so last you until the next month and be energy conservative. Obviously, leaving lights on and running your AC when you aren’t at home will cost you dearly. Sooner or later, it happens to everyone. On a brighter note it makes even the most wasteful person much more energy conscious.

For information on services in Beijing, such as telephone, TV, internet, etc. For other cities check the end of this article

The nice aspect of using a realtor initially is that you can call them for help when you need something discussed with the landlord. Many Chinese landlords use realtors for this explicit reason because it’s much easier since most foreigners don’t speak Chinese. This can be extremely useful with issues of maintenance which will inevitably arise. There are so many options and different kinds of apartments in Beijing that it’s hard to know where to begin but with these helpful tips your apartment hunting adventures can be as painless as possible.

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