We will be relocating for a minimum 3 years. Do we bring our own furniture or are most (so far all those I have searched on the web are) of the apartments furnished. What about items such as pianos, entertainment units etc? Bikes?

I don't know where you will be coming from, but, if you get your appartement furnished, be prepared that the Chinese taste on "what's looking good and nice" can be a very big suprise

We've always ask the landlord to prepare the "big things" like beds, sofas, bookshelves etc, and entertainment units like tv, dvd, satellite dish..... We've been lucky with your Chinese landlords, we've have good ones, and they have provided us with very western looking furniture.

Bikes you can buy here if you need them. If you live in an appartment building, you have to keep them inside the appartment....

If I were you, I would bring my own stuff, 3+ yrs is a long time, you'll feel more like home with your own stuff. OR you buy your own stuff here....

there's no norm as far as furnished vs unfurnished apartments go. in my opinion and experience the higher end apartments tend to be more likely to be furnished compared at the lower end of the market. also if you are willing to go for a longer term contract then that might tip the balance of furnished vs unfurnished. if you are looking at the high end of the rental real estate market then furnishings are fully negotiable and provided to your taste, which the landlord will supply according to your requirements as negotiated at the time of the lease signing...

MinniMe wrote:Bikes you can buy here if you need them. If you live in an appartment building, you have to keep them inside the appartment....

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I love this site!!! The 'where to store the bikes' issue hadn't even occurred to me. We will be coming from a triple garage home in Australia so guess the kayaks are going into storage too! Thanks for the tips.

in apartment complexes, there is usually storage or parking for bicycles, electric and small petrol/gas scooters provided in the basement of the building. seriously, when you get here you will see that bicycles and all the variants are still one of the most popular forms of transport around. now for some people especially those with unique or higher end bicycles, some will take the bicycle and park it inside their apartment, especially if one has a smaller bicycle like a fold-up bike. Ofcourse this means navigating the labyrinth of foyers, lobby's and lifts etc. and then some building management companies might not allow or at best discourage allowing people to take their bicycle in the lift, unless its a fold-up bicycle.

Actually fold-up bikes are useful in that they can be folded and then carried onto buses, taken on the Metro lines, placed into the boot of a taxi. yes you can buy all variations of bicycles from the real cheap low end bikes through to high end import or custom made bikes. When I lived in Shanghai I would take my fold-up (high end dahon brand) with me into buses, the metro, restaurants and hotels all the time.

lawfamily wrote:We will be relocating for a minimum 3 years. Do we bring our own furniture or are most (so far all those I have searched on the web are) of the apartments furnished. What about items such as pianos, entertainment units etc? Bikes?

Most of the high end apartments are furnished as they targeted at high income expats who doesn't want the hassles. If you want to and have the time to.... rent a brand new apartment and negotiate with the landlord on furnishing (very common here in SH) style/taste (traditional Chinese furnishing isn't too bad....but not the semi modern Chinese stuffs).

Coming from Oz, I would put everything in storage or rent out your place fully furnished. Take the money (relocation costs est. $15k) and buy the additional stuffs (piano, bike...etc) here in China. Entertainment units and all the normal white goods are part of the furnitures negotiation with your landlord. Make sure you tell them you want an oven, a toaster, a kettle.... (btw, they have ikea here if that's your taste)....and tell them you want a BIG fridge. They shop everyday here in China so they usually don't have a big fridge like you normally have in Oz.

Lawfamily
you asked about Shimao Riviera and Dulwich?... so, if you decide to live at Shimao Riviera, you don't have any compound space for bikes, you have to keep them on the balcony (up to 36th floor) or then inside the apartment, if you live above 36th (?) floor

There are two kinds of developments here which offer different styles of furnishings. One is a compound built and owned by one developer so all furnishings are standard throughout all apartments. There are a copule that have two or three different styles of furnishings to suit from ie: American, European and Chinese. The developer usually hires an interior designer/decorator so the apartment's furnishings and decor are usually of good quality and attractive. The other kind of compound is built by a developer and sold off to individual owners who may occupy it or rent it out. The style of furnishings vary according the landlord's taste. I would say less than half of the apartments avaialable are furnished in a style that would suit westerners.

One thing to bear in mind is that most properties come furnished and if you bring your own furniture you really limit the apartment available. Some landlords will move out furnishings but not all will. This problem only relates to individually owned apartments and not developer compounds. In the case of developer compounds, they have a storeroom to store their furnshings.

Lastly, the tax for bringing in furnishings is quite high and is a detterant for many people. As earlier posters mentioned, you can buy plenty of bikes etc, here which are low priced.

I am sorry to say it will be hard to pursue a Aussie outdoors lifestyle here so best keep the kayaks etc at home:(

Adrienne
http://www.shanghaiprops.com