Hi All

I am looking for apartments near the southern side of Century Park along meihua road or in that vincinity. Anyone knows about any compounds around that area? Not looking for apartment around Thumb plaza!

Seems like agencies have a hard time finding something there.

Any recommendation highly appreciated!

Pudong Century Garden seems OK, nice views over the park, near the new Kerry Center, walking distance from two different metro lines, etc.

More like a short Taxi ride to the metro stations from Century Gardens, but a short walk to the pub!

No way, I've done it a couple times. 10 mins walk to Line 2, even shorter to the new Huamu Lu station for Line 7. Easy peasy.

philipsweden wrote:
Not looking for apartment around Thumb plaza!

Seems like agencies have a hard time finding something there.

Odd - I live in this area (and love it) and it seems there is an entire new block of apartments up for grabs.

Its become a very popular area to live, even if you don't have a young family. Very popular with Chinese as well as Expata.

Prices?

I do not know a great deal in this area but I do know one fellow who recently moved to Pudong Century Garden with his family, which is why I know the distances to the metro stations as stated above. Really nice 3 br place on the 22nd floor with a fantastic view over the park toward Lujiazui, I believe he is paying @26000. He has had gym membership, satellite and annual membership fee to Century Park negotiated into that price. The park membership is not a 'common' negotiated feature to most places I reckon, but he has 3 young children and the grounds of the complex are not very big - not much open space (if you were a developer, why would you dedicate a lot of ground to open space when there is a huge park just over the road, I suppose) and an annual family pass is not actually all that expensive, just a hassle to try to organise for yourself if you don't speak or read Chinese.

Thanks for that, much appreciated

Any idea about prices for normal people in normal apartments?

I live in Datang 2-qi, 10 min to Line 2, one block to Line 7. RMB 5700 for 2-bed, 1-bath, about 90 sq. m.

When I was looking around last June, 2 -3 rooms would come out every week but would get rented out within a couple of weeks, so if you see something you like, at least put down a deposit.

Many real-estate agents along Meihua Lu, so just come down on weekend and shop around.

kendoras wrote:I live in Datang 2-qi, 10 min to Line 2, one block to Line 7. RMB 5700 for 2-bed, 1-bath, about 90 sq. m.

When I was looking around last June, 2 -3 rooms would come out every week but would get rented out within a couple of weeks, so if you see something you like, at least put down a deposit.

Many real-estate agents along Meihua Lu, so just come down on weekend and shop around.

Great, thanks for the advice! What kind of furnishing are you getting for that price, and many apartment complex amenities?

By the way, what is Datang 2-qi?

I'm living in Xiangmei Gardens (SW corner of the park), 10 min to century park station and about 7 to science museum station. 120m sq meter, 2 bed & 2 bath place for 7K. There is a gym/club you can join but no idea of the price. Overall I like the location as there are shops within easy walking distance and the grounds are nice and quiet.

mrbigglesworth wrote:

kendoras wrote:I live in Datang 2-qi, 10 min to Line 2, one block to Line 7. RMB 5700 for 2-bed, 1-bath, about 90 sq. m.

When I was looking around last June, 2 -3 rooms would come out every week but would get rented out within a couple of weeks, so if you see something you like, at least put down a deposit.

Many real-estate agents along Meihua Lu, so just come down on weekend and shop around.

Great, thanks for the advice! What kind of furnishing are you getting for that price, and many apartment complex amenities?

By the way, what is Datang 2-qi?

Fully furnished but the quality varies greatly. Some have floor heating, which is nice in winter. So look as many as you can. Complex does not have gym or club house, but there's a new gym with swimming pool right next to the complex. Also Will's Gym is within walking distance.

Along Meihua Lu between Baiyang Lu and Fangdian Lu are 3 phases of Datang Shengshi 大唐盛世 apartment complexes. I prefer Phase 2 because it has nice green area although now the complex is getting a little bit noisy because of the Himalaya Center next to it.

BTW, newly open Kerry Center is a 5-minute walk. Has Element Fresh, Blue Frog, Starbucks and other expat favorites.

I'm a 24 year old American working at the Pudong Software Park. I live in Da Tang Sheng Shi. 5400RMB for 2 bedrooms and 1 bath. Awesome apartment in a great area. I used an agent on Meihua lu. PM me if you want the agent's phone number.

I live at Yong jing tai, 雍景台, and it's right on Huamu Rd. I live practically on top of Domino's and the apartment is literally 2 minutes walk from Century Park and the station. 10 minutes walk from Kerry Parkside, minimum taxi fare to get to Thumb Plaza. Easy to get a taxi. Great views day and night. When the Fireworks festival held at the park starts, it's amazing. Better than front row seats since you can actually see the whole show.
My apartment has 2 (large) bedrooms, one study, two bathrooms, kitchen, dining, and living, as well as a balcony facing the park. Ours came with furniture. There's no clubhouse, pool, or gym (Will's is about 5 minutes away) but there is a children's playground and tennis courts as well as a parking lot.
There are some apartments that are empty, although the prices vary as most are privately owned. I'll report back with the monthly rent later.

Thank you all, this is great information! Looking forward to your rent figure, VictoriaC

For the three bedroom (my apartment) it's 28,000 if you go through the management. This gives you essentially a serviced apartment: regular cleaning, dishware, bed linen, etc. We, however, went straight to the owner and negotiated for 26,000 a month, including furniture. The landlord also gave us a month's rent to buy whatever we needed for the house, however, a guy (either from the management or part of the real estate agency) ran off with the money. Oh well. This is for a 193 m2 apartment (although this measurement includes part of the elevator area on this floor. The apartment + balcony would be around 150m2).
For a smaller apartment, it's at most around 22,000. They're about 160 m2 including elevator area (120m2 ish) I believe all of these smaller apartments are owned by the management, and therefore you can't negotiate for a lower price.

Our furniture included: Appliances (fridge, microwave, 2 TVs, DVD player, stereo, washer and dryer) 1 king sized bed and 1 queen, 2 desks (one large and one average), 2 office chairs, wardrobes (one built in, one not) a large cupboard for books and stuff, bed side tables (for each side of each bed) bedside lamps, standing lamps, desk lamps, tea table (one large and one small), 2 couches, 2 arm chairs, 2 side tables, dining room table plus seating for 6, a shoe short shoe closet, ironing board and iron, vacuum, and I think that's about it. Basically, you get everything except bed linen, towels, tissues (haha), kitchen utensils, and cutlery.
If you go through management (and pay 2000 more each month), you get everything.

These estimates, however, were from around 3 years ago, before metro line 7, Kerry Parkside, and the expo center. The apartments aren't cheap, but I guess you're paying for the view. The row behind us would be a lot cheaper, and we estimate around 8000 probably. The view is definitely worth it. Across from the park are a bunch of business buildings that light up on the weekends until late, and you can see the bright buildings near Century Avenue. You can even see some buildings in Lujiazui, like the financial tower and Pearl tower, although only the top half from my floor. I've already mentioned the Fireworks Festival: two hours of beautiful fireworks for 3 days in October. Being right on Huamu Rd, you can watch Century Park change throughout the year. This winter was especially amazing: it snowed!

Wish you well in your search!

Thank you, Victoria!

mrbigglesworth wrote:Thanks for that, much appreciated

Any idea about prices for normal people in normal apartments?

Not sure I understand - he is a normal guy in a normal apartment; what about the situation struck you as unusual?

We also make sure that you excel in the personal business property and get the advantage of doing the things in the right manner.

I (unfortunately) need to give up my place. It's an awesome apartment for those on a budget. 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom (big bathtub in one of them), large kitchen, very open layout, around 200sqm. It's on Zhangyang lu, near Minsheng lu (not far from Yuanshen stadium). Easy access to the metro (line 6). My company is moving me to the other side of the city, so need to relocate immediately. Landlord says she wants ¥6500 but that could be bargained down quite a bit I think. If anyone is interested and needs a place ASAP, feel free to contact me.

Hey LifeMage, I may be interested. Can I see some photos of your apartment, please?

I uploaded a couple pics to my flickr account (had problems trying to post them directly onto this thread).
link: http://flickr.com/photos/lifemagic/

Oh, I found out it's smaller than I thought...around 180sqm.