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HKDan
Seeker
Joined: May 24, 2008
Posts: 48
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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 Posted:
June 22, 2008 - 08:00 PM |
 
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| Post subject: My experience |
I write this for any people that are moving to Shanghai and unsure of the housing landscape. I write from the perspective of a married couple with a young baby so if you are 21 with a backpack you may disagree with my findings. Anyway:
We narrowed our search down to three main expat areas: Jing'An, PuDong and Century Park. I visited Park Ave 1 and 8 and they were OK. Park Ave 1 has many great apartments at pretty good prices (3 beds for 13K) and nicely decorated. The main issues are the building itself - all the front doors have these metal grills on and it all looks a bit old. Park Ave 8 was more of the same however no grills and one hell of a club house. Very good but the Park 8 apartments were more expensive and the construction work has not finished yet. One glimpse out the windows of the places I went to see and there was a podium deck ready to built on any day now. Also, in my opinion natch, the area was too busy and too congested for a young family. Once you step outside of the relatively small compound then you are in the middle of busy roads and narrow pavements - not a great place for a stroll but good to be close to the action if we were 10 years younger. Both of these developments were very nice once you got inside your property but it was the rest of the time outside and getting to and from that concerned me. In a nutshell Jing'An is not great for a family. I looked at Manhattan Heights (old) and La Doll (not many expats and it all looked worn and grubby in the lobbies in the buildings I was shown)
Next I went to Century Park. I can see what is trying to be achieved here but its not an expat haven but more for middle class Chinese families (although I understand many expats live there). The buildings are OK and cheaper and the recreational space is nice but there is nothing there! Ok, there is the park and Thumbs Plaza but thats going to get boring pretty quickly. Still, certainly more walkable and away from the city but if you are new then quite an isolating experience.
I then visited the usual suspects in PuDong - Shimao, Skyline and Yanlord. All much better and just far enough away from the bustle of the city to be able to be seperated from thde Puxi side. All three are much of a muchness but for families I would suggest that any one of these would be preferable. Shimao has a better clubhouse but more people and far from the MTR (although one is being built next door but who knows when that will be finished) Skyline was a higher quality but smaller rooms (much smaller the Shimao) and a smaller club house. Yanlord was OK but again looked quite old and unnecessarily expensive in terms of value as I think its still dining out on a reputation it acquired years ago. In the end we chose Skyline and we are happy with our choice.
I hope that this casts some light for those moving here with young families. The bottom line is that forums are full of opinions but nothing can beat seeing for yourself. You may even get here and disagree with me. Hope I have helped. |
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zanderion
Talker
Joined: Jan 29, 2008
Posts: 110
Status: Offline
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June 22, 2008 - 09:01 PM |
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HKDan,
Nice info but isn't Skyline a little close to the new construction going on along the riverfront?
I agree Yanlord is a little older but the latest Phase 3 is better. It wasn't my style though.
Didn't check Shimao out myself but I did kind of like the Pinnacle Century Park. Only thing was that the rooms were quite small.
Ending up at Xujiahui myself. Hope you enjoy your stay! |
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hc
Post Roaster
Joined: Apr 04, 2007
Posts: 4545
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June 22, 2008 - 10:38 PM |
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wonderer
Raver
Joined: Sep 25, 2006
Posts: 429
Status: Offline
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June 23, 2008 - 05:48 AM |
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^Take that as a polite warning.
Welcome to Shanghai!
Well I like my place, 3kRMB/mth for a family-sized apartment, close to anywhere interesting. |
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KJ
Ranter
Joined: Sep 28, 2005
Posts: 541
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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June 23, 2008 - 08:32 AM |
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I am not sure why you didn't check out Gubei/Hong Qiao. It is family friendly, yet you can hit Puxi easily and don't need to mess with the tunnel traffic. Also lots more here than in Pudong. |
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Bubba's: Smokin' the Good Stuff Since 1996 |
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CIA
LoopKicker
Joined: Mar 23, 2008
Posts: 890
Location: Least Expect
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June 23, 2008 - 03:00 PM |
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| zanderion wrote: |
| Didn't check Shimao out myself but I did kind of like the Pinnacle Century Park. Only thing was that the rooms were quite small. |
That's the best joke I've heard all year.
That place is a haven of lies, lies and more lies, black mold, facilities that have been 'in the works' for years now, 3-4x more expensive than the 'local' set of buildings right next door, same design, same layout, units that leak water through every seal, 'standard' housing contracts that just happen to be customized to every tenant, etc. etc. etc.
The sooner that place is 'localized' the better, Morgan Stanley needs to take their heads out of their asses. |
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| Every evening I died, and every evening I was born again, resurrected. |
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sbergman
Veejay
Joined: Sep 12, 2007
Posts: 2168
Status: Offline
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June 23, 2008 - 03:06 PM |
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I have been very happy at XiangMei. The public facilities are very nice. The club house is decent. Lots of green space. The next phase is just about complete and includes tennis courts. Short walk to Metro Line 2. Management office has been very responsive when we've needed things fixed. The neighborhood is a little boring but it's easy to get a cab from here, MeiHua Lu now has lots of restaurants and the road along the creek, Originality Street, will have six restaurants by the end of the summer. Because of how close we are to the Shanghai Japanese School, there are many Japanese families here. They make great neighbors. |
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edgyinchina
Seeker
Joined: June 03, 2008
Posts: 48
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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June 23, 2008 - 03:33 PM |
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I would think that part of the fun and adventure of coming to China would be to discover things "Chinese"..... Not just have the need for things 'foreign or Westerized'...I don't eat in 'Westernized" restaurants, or shop in Westernized stores... If I wanted to do that, I would have stayed in California...
I like Century Park (south of the park).... Inexpensive, maybe older, still close to everything via Metro Line 2, very Chinese (who make good neighbors for me), the neighborhood shops are fun because you can bargain with (probably) the owner...
JMHO |
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zanderion
Talker
Joined: Jan 29, 2008
Posts: 110
Status: Offline
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June 23, 2008 - 11:51 PM |
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| CIA wrote: |
That place is a haven of lies, lies and more lies, black mold, facilities that have been 'in the works' for years now, 3-4x more expensive than the 'local' set of buildings right next door, same design, same layout, units that leak water through every seal, 'standard' housing contracts that just happen to be customized to every tenant, etc. etc. etc.
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Really? Sounds pretty bad. Didn't notice any of the stuff you mentioned. Maybe I was only shown the "nice" units.  They did mention the clubhouse was in the works but I've been told that alot in Shanghai so it didn't come as a surprise.
Guess it isn't a big deal since I moved on to other options anyway. Good thing on hindsight.  |
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HKDan
Seeker
Joined: May 24, 2008
Posts: 48
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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June 27, 2008 - 01:37 PM |
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cheers for the feedback all.
Yes, there the new subway tunnel is being built next door but we thankfully live high up have lovely double glazing so not been bothered once however I wouldnt want to be living lower down or indeed in Yanlord opposite which is also blighted by these works.
I think it is hard for those that are planning to move to Shanghai to understand how 'Pudong' is lumped into one place. Its kind of like saying South London and lumping in Bromley with Waterloo (appologies to those that have never been to London) PuDong just outside the tunnel is different to Pudong Century park - we live a mere tunnel away from the Peoples Square and we may as well be in Jing'An as it takes more or less the same time for me to get to my work. Gubei/Hong Qiao has no tunnel hassle its true but its still too far for us as we want to live in Shanghai central not outside surrounded with Thumbs Plaza style banality. |
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FactSeeker
Newbie
Joined: July 07, 2008
Posts: 4
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July 07, 2008 - 11:12 AM |
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Dan, thank you for that information.
My wife and I, with a baby on the way, are contemplating a move to Shanghai from the U.S. soon, and I'm now starting to attempt to obtain substantive feedback from others who were (or are) in a similar situation.
If you could review the questions I interposed in that thread and provide some feedback, I'd be appreciative:
http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/MDForum-viewtopic-t-78393.phtml |
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travelmadame
Newbie
Joined: July 15, 2008
Posts: 9
Status: Offline
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Aug 26, 2008 - 07:35 PM |
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thanks HKDan for your comments and advice. We've a young family too (my son is 10 months old) and hence is looking for a place to live in Pudong as well. Did you evaluate an option of a house?!
also, have you gotten the "illegal" cable? I have read so many posts about it and still not sure what to do. We really want to continue watching the australian network... any advice?
Thanks, |
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Wombat
Lurker
Joined: July 30, 2008
Posts: 20
Location: Puxi
Status: Offline
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Aug 26, 2008 - 09:14 PM |
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Travelmadame
At present there are problems with the Aus network even from the legit suppliers"philsat".Keep your money in your pocket untill we find out what's going on, as apparently the muppets at Dreamm have leased out the aus channel to some other provider at the weekends. However that being said I have no problems recieving the Aus channel during the week...maybe just a problem during the olympics.
Will keep you posted. |
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ma...ate |
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ShanghaiSecondHand
Seeker
Joined: July 26, 2008
Posts: 65
Status: Offline
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Aug 26, 2008 - 09:35 PM |
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Welcome to Shanghai!
The area you are referring to is actually called LuJiaZui. If you refer to it as Pudong, it doesn't make sense...Pudong translated means east of the river....so it is Shanghai, so Century Park is also Pudong. Some of the areas in Pudong where expats choose to live are
LuJiaZui - the financial center
Century Park -
JinQiao
As for the "illegal cable/satellite", I know at Yanlord Garden they are really cracking down, they put up warnings, and then a few days later you will see the police and quite a few satellites lined up on the ground. |
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www.ShanghaiSecondHand.com |
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iara
Veejay
Joined: June 09, 2006
Posts: 2076
Location: brazil-shanghai
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Aug 26, 2008 - 09:37 PM |
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one advice Travelmadame: don't waste your money with satelite tv. Ask the landlord to buy it for the house! Any problems, he will handle. |
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I'm my husband slave! always! |
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travelmadame
Newbie
Joined: July 15, 2008
Posts: 9
Status: Offline
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Aug 27, 2008 - 07:51 PM |
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thanks everyone, great advice about having landlord to own the cable so that I can chase him/her in case of problems... sorry about being abit ignorant...we want to live closer to LuJiaZui since our office is there. |
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SnappySammy
Board Legend
Joined: Nov 01, 2007
Posts: 10195
Status: Online!
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Aug 28, 2008 - 09:35 PM |
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| sbergman wrote: |
| I have been very happy at XiangMei. The public facilities are very nice. The club house is decent. Lots of green space. The next phase is just about complete and includes tennis courts. Short walk to Metro Line 2. Management office has been very responsive when we've needed things fixed. The neighborhood is a little boring but it's easy to get a cab from here, MeiHua Lu now has lots of restaurants and the road along the creek, Originality Street, will have six restaurants by the end of the summer. Because of how close we are to the Shanghai Japanese School, there are many Japanese families here. They make great neighbors. |
So tell us Lady Bergie How's life on that Mountain Top In Tennessee..Have you killed any Bars lately? |
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Yank My Doodle It's A Dandy |
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answerer
Raver
Joined: Apr 26, 2006
Posts: 453
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Aug 31, 2008 - 11:59 PM |
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Regarding La Doll, those sneaky agents probably showed you the "compensation apartments" for people who used to live on the land. It's separate from the rest of LaDoll by a bamboo screen
When you walk in to the lobby of buildings for the nicer part of LaDoll, there's nicely polished stone flooring and wall covering everywhere and it's essentially all expat or rich Shanghainese. |
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mellonball879
Newbie
Joined: Sep 01, 2008
Posts: 1
Status: Offline
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Sep 01, 2008 - 11:54 AM |
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I've lived at Pinnacle Century Park for two years now and have to say that it's a great place with great staff. Of course it's more expensive...It's a serviced apartment... I've been living in Shanghai for 7 years now, and of course each apartment has its problems. But it's more a matter of how they deal with the residents. I'm pretty satisfied thus far...
| CIA wrote: |
| zanderion wrote: |
| Didn't check Shimao out myself but I did kind of like the Pinnacle Century Park. Only thing was that the rooms were quite small. |
That's the best joke I've heard all year.
That place is a haven of lies, lies and more lies, black mold, facilities that have been 'in the works' for years now, 3-4x more expensive than the 'local' set of buildings right next door, same design, same layout, units that leak water through every seal, 'standard' housing contracts that just happen to be customized to every tenant, etc. etc. etc.
The sooner that place is 'localized' the better, Morgan Stanley needs to take their heads out of their asses. |
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iara
Veejay
Joined: June 09, 2006
Posts: 2076
Location: brazil-shanghai
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Sep 01, 2008 - 01:09 PM |
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Regarding Pinnacle : some months ago I went to visit a friend there, and thought they did a bad change moving from a nice and big apartment in Shimao Lakeside to a place with 2 small bedrooms, 1 very small kitchen and the dinner room room was also so small that only a 4 people table could fit there. Really terrible place 
But then 2 weeks ago went to another friend, another building at Pinnacle and UAU, the place was huge! a quite large kitchen, 4 big bedrooms, office, nice living room, better dinner room, huge balconies both sides of the place. I almost thougt about moving from my townhouse to there!
So, it always depends on the place, and sometimes some building complex have so differents apartments styles (and prices), then it worth to take a look at every place here! |
_________________
I'm my husband slave! always! |
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