Hi all,

I am new to this forum. Will be moving to Shanghai soon with my family. I have two boys aged 14 (twins) and can anyone advise which is the best area to live in? Somewhere not too far from their school, with lots of green, quiet and reasonably priced. Am thinking of sending them to school in Minhang area, any good estates around there?

thanks.

There are a lot of nice compounds in Minhang, near the international schools. I know (and like) Shanghai Raquet Club, Risen Villa, Rancho Santa Fe, Forest Manor.

However, I personally would not live in that area, as it is too far away from everything else. Your children are old enough for a 30-40 minute communte to school so in my opinion, if they will go to school in MinHang, you might want to look at some compounds in HongQiao (HongQiao Lu, Hong Mei Lu, Jian He Lu area).

Good luck with your search!

Where will you work. You probably should live close enough to work to make it a reasonable commute. If your day job is in PuDong, you don't want to live in Minhang.

Shanghai has a lot of nice parks and green areas, but it is a city of 20M people and quiet might become a relative term after while here. Better compounds that have been around awhile are a good bet. Brand new compound might not have traffic, but they someone remodeling something at all hours.

Dear friends,

Kind regards from Germany!

I am on my way to Shanghai but I have a lot of questions as the city and the culture is completely new for me!

I really hope that somebody can help me with some advices!

First of all...my salary!

I have an offer as Senior Sales Manager/Ass.DOS international Sales for an US American Hotel Company and I would like to ask you whether you can give me an advice in regards to the salary!

What can I expect or what do I need?

I really appreciate your help!

Kind regards
Stefan

Usually it's the school that determines where you live. Please note that most schools are already at full capacity for the upcoming school year. I would call around and find out which schools still have availability before you settle on your housing. If you already have your acceptances at a school, then just find something convenient to your work place as well.

freedelia wrote:There are a lot of nice compounds in Minhang, near the international schools. I know (and like) Shanghai Raquet Club, Risen Villa, Rancho Santa Fe, Forest Manor.

However, I personally would not live in that area, as it is too far away from everything else. Your children are old enough for a 30-40 minute communte to school so in my opinion, if they will go to school in MinHang, you might want to look at some compounds in HongQiao (HongQiao Lu, Hong Mei Lu, Jian He Lu area).

Good luck with your search!

Thanks a lot for the info. I have considered living nearer to town but am not sure how the traffic would be in the morning for my kids. The last thing i want is for them to spend 1 or 2 hrs on the road every morning to get to school. If i understand correctly from you advice, Minhang is 30 to 40 mins from HongQiao etc?

Thanks to all your advice. My office is near Yan An East road. Which area will be convenient to get to Minhang and Yan An? Of course i will also have to take your advice that it should be somewhere that is not too far from everything else. If there is a big supermarket nearby would be ideal.

Actually the area freedelia mentioned HongQiao Lu - Gubei, Hong Mei Lu, Jian He Lu area is just about what you are looking for. The Gubei Carrefour is close and probably one of the better known supermarkets that expats frequent.

thank you very much for the info, Michael. Among the areas mentioned, which of these areas has a good mixed of different nationalities? My company is asking me to propose a monthly allowance for our apartment. what do you think is a reasonable amount to ask? An amount that i can get a better than average apartment. Thanks a heap in advance.

All of the above areas are close to each other. My favorite is Hong Mei Lu, because it is "alive", there are a lot of restaurants, spas, shops, kids places, driving range, gyms, the fake market -- you will not need to leave that area too often.

HongQiao Golf Villas is a nice compound to be in and I think 4000 USD will get you villa there -- better and not necessarily more expensive than an apartment.

If interested, I can recommend you a real estate agent who is a friend of mine and she can give you a better idea about the prices and everything.

I think it would be best to take mrc112's advice on the schools. This really is a big determining factor as the schools are quite spread out and you don't want to be looking at places that are too far from the school that the kids will eventually end up in. There are schools in the Hong Qiao, Minhang and Jiading areas. I'd get in touch with them as soon as possible and find out vacancies. Once the school is sorted out then you can narrow down your search for places in a particular area. Hong Qiao has the highest selection of villas and apartments in the western area and is the most established for expatriates. Besides the schools there is a large Carrefour supermarket, some stores with international goods like City Shopper and Pines, specialist delicastessens, bars and restaurants and entertainment venues. There are many families living there so your kids would have some school friends close by. The downside is that the villas are more expensive than places like Minhang and Jiading and the vacancy rates are low for the good compounds. However, over the next month or so there will be ones available but you need to be quick to get the good ones!

Budgets range from USD$4,000 to USD$15,000+ for villas and USD$3,000 for family sized apartments.

Before you start looking at places please have a look at our leasing advice to give you some useful advice.

Let us know which school you end up at then we can advise further.

Adrienne
http://www.shanghaiprops.com

Actually Adrienne was the real estate agent I was going to recommend, but she found the thread herself

Oh, freedelia. Thanks for the kind words. I will do my best to help out. It's such a daunting task moving to a huge place like Shanghai.

Cheers:-)

Adrienne
http://www.shanghaiprops.com

Welcome to this Huge city Shanghai.

Dear everyone, really appreciate all your help in offering these fantastic advices. I will sort out the school issue first before deciding on the area. A Big Thank You!

Adrienne, i will definitely contact you once i settle the above. thanks. And eppworld, thanks for the welcome.

My family lived in Minhang with three kids. We love the area, it's very family friendly, close to a lot of international schools. Please check your PM, I send you some information.