Searching for a home

We had set ourselves a week (at least that was the duration of our hotel booking) to find a place to live. We had initial thoughts of renting a furnished place for 6 months until we were better acquainted with the city and then renting something later where we wanted to be for the next (possibly) 3-6 years. Of course, we had also been told that there was accommodation available on campus at the University Guest House for Foreign Scholars (photo thanks to our American Fulbright friends - Sam, Jake, Ben, Ellie and Steve) which we had decided not to take up (I really wanted 3 bedrooms so that our home could be a true "getaway" from the rigors of living in a truly foreign place and they only had 2 bedroom apartments).

The plan was for me to keep the two terrors occupied so Brett could run through available properties, bringing a short list by the end of the week for the family to check out. So with the weather hot and humid, more so than in Illinois (remember this is the end of August) Brett set out with the capable assistance of one of his students, Wang Nan, to see what was on offer. I shall leave it to Brett to write the intricacies of dealing with the real estate agents in China, but suffice it to say that it is, different.

The kids and I ventured outside for very short periods, trying to be outside before the heat kicked in for the day and inside until evening. Interesting though it was to see the condensation blanketing the picture windows of the hotel, it merely served as a reminder of the coolness that the airconditioning provided. I was lulled into a false sense of security with the campus paths that were so lovely to stroll along with the double stroller. Once I left campus I realised the folly of my ways and exported it to Australia where there are footpaths along most roads.
The kids and I spent our time on campus which was big enough for us, jetlagged as we were, and had some interesting construction happening for our entertainment. Even our hotel room provided the kids with entertainment. And not just because it had a tv!

Here is the new "playhouse".The water that we purchased in the shop to drink came complete with pH strips to ensure your water's quality.Having lived in university accommodation in America and seen first-hand the difficulties of enforcing "no hanging clothes outside" rules, I now see why this is a cultural thing:This is one of the dorms - quite attractive really - there are other older ones on campus that I later found. Indeed, once I made it off of campus, I saw clothes being hung out to dry everywhere. An electric dryer is a rare thing in China.

Where ever we went, the kids were a novelty. And it was all a novelty to them - at that time. It didn't take long for Alex especially to get over the fawning attention two laowai kids get in China (especially the blondie).


Here is a video of us relaxing in our hotel room.


And a video of me interviewing Alex about China.


By the end of the week I was climbing the walls, the kids were over living in a hotel and Brett had a short list of around 8 apartments for us to check out. So off we trekked.

Building regulations in China don't require elevators in buildings less then 6 stories tall. So if a building didn't have an elevator, I wanted to be closer to the ground than the top. Having said that, we were very aware of the "scent of China" - a mix of sewerage, cooking smells, humidity and goodness knows what else - that permeated many of the street level apartments. One of the benefits of apartment hunting in the heat and humidity of August. So we wanted to "rise" above that smell or living there would be unbearable. All apartments had kitchens of varying cleanliness - all were able to be closed off to the rest of the house (presumably due to cooking smells) however some had the propane gas tank next to the range and others had it outside. Although all were 3 bedroom apartments, not all had two bathrooms. Brett had been keen to rent the apartment that had one western toilet as well as a squat toilet - me, not so keen. But I did like the idea of two bathrooms - especially as we'd decided to have someone in to clean our apartment.

We were unable to get a six month lease so anything we rented would be for a full year. Marble floors were de rigeur (well actually, the richer you were the more likely you were to have wooden floors). They were all furnished in varying styles though most were vibrant coloured leather couches with glass/metal tables. Air-conditioning was in all bedrooms and most living rooms. But not an oven in sight - and refrigerators were usually as tall as my shoulder or shorter. Some, but not all had electric washing machines and no electric dryers anywhere. A very few had some ozone sterilizing units for dish washing. Here are a couple of example places:
Here is a kitchen with old wooden cabinets (check mold) and a toaster oven on top of the microwave. The fridge, whilst taller than most, is quite thin.Here is the living room of the same apartment - lovely blue leather and metal couches. The balcony has been enclosed which gave you a little extra living space. Many apartments have metal grillwork on all the windows and balconies - we're not sure whether they are there for: 1) theft prevention; 2) suicide prevention; or 3) childproofing. All I know is that I didn't want them where we were as I saw them as a fire trap - preventing any escape from the balcony unless you had an acetylene torch.

However, the kids were very good with trekking for what felt like miles, meeting several different real estate agents and seeing so many apartments. Wang Nan was such a help we really could not have done better on our own - he was instrumental to us being able to discuss anything with the agents!

And so we finally were deciding between two apartments - one right outside the West (Main) Gate of the university (Xia Da) and the other three stops away from the university on the bus, overlooking the Gulanyu. The first building opened out onto the street, the second was within a complex that had a courtyard. The one closest to Xia Da had wooden floors and was on three levels, the other was on one level and had marble floors.

Next post - which one did we choose?!