Moving to China

Di Margherita Maestripieri

If you are moving to China for the first time and if you are going to search for an apartment, then here you are some tips that might be useful for your “quest”.

First of all:

What to expect from a Chinese apartment?

In my personal experience, looking for a not really expensive apartment in Beijing is hard. Compared to everyday life expenses (such as food,public transport, book expenses) rents in the capital are very high, especially if you are looking for a flat close to the Hutong area and to Sanlitun.

While I was studying in Beijing during my second year I moved into a Chinese apartment, but I was already prepared because actually my first time was in Kunming two years before.

The only difference between renting a flat in KM or in BJ is that Beijing houses are all provided with heathers, while KM houses do not.

Back to BJ apartment…

Chinese kitchen:

Chinese kitchen are usually pretty small.

Bear in mind that you will never find an oven in a Chinese apartment.

The microwaves used to be rare, nowadays they are much more common.

Forget about your best friend the dishwasher, you will kiss her back once you get home.

Because of the lack of space that the kitchen offers you, sometimes the fridge is located in the living room.

Chinese Bathroom:

If you are Italian then please forget about your lovely bidet. Be prepared that Chinese bathrooms usually don’t have a separate shower stall. The toilet area is combined with the shower, this basically means that when you take a shower the entire floor gets wet.

Your bathroom could be provided of a Bathtub, it depends on the owner of the apartment.

Bathroom are also provided with a washing machine which is probably very different from the ones that you are used to…

You will need to add warm water manually, because the machine is connected to cold water, without an internal heater.

Bedroom:

Usually the closet is included in the apartment, once again it depends on the house holder.

When it comes to beds the mattresses in China are very hard, but it should be good for your back… be prepared!!

Have you ever lived in a Chinese apartment?