Hello Everyone,

I am very happy to see such a large gathering of Expats to network with. I will be taking a new position in Shanghai starting April 2006. I have been given an allowance for living and am looking for suggestions. I am a 30 year old single male and looking for a furnished apartment near other Expats for convenience and a touch of home. I will be making a visit to Shanghai the week of December 5th and would like any recommendations on Apartments to see. I have very modern tastes if that is any help. Any help is greatly appreciated.

30 year old single guy here for 7 days.
TASK: Find appartment, hire ayi to clean it, find live-in Chinese girl friend. OK--that gives you 6 days to see the city. See you in the Big Bamboo Friday night!

I think the first decision to be made is between Puxi or Pudong. In my humble opinion, Puxi is more lively and exciting, which subjectively may equate with fun or loud and polluted. Pudong has some nice residential areas and tends to be more quiet (or as the Chinese like to say, anjing, which I think sometimes means a bit dull.)

In Pudong, there is a place called the Four Seasons Villas, a planned community which resembles many US suburbs. (On an aside, I think there are a number of people who work for a particular oil engineering company at the Seasons, but I digress). The accomdations are very nice and there are many expats. In Puxi, places near the consulates (near Hengshan Road) are quite comfortable and you can seldomly walk down the street without bumping into another expat.

Just my 0.162 RMB (bad joke!). Welcome to Shanghai!

Oilman, your choices are going to vary by your allowance levels. My top three choices were Royal Pavilion (688 Hua Shan Lu), #41 Hengshan (41 Hengshan lu) and Times Square (Huaihai Zhong Lu).

Royal Pavilion, in my opinion, is the nicest of the three. Fairly new, great management, dry cleaning drop off on site and pool, tennis, work out facilities on site. Down side of RP is that it is not very close to any western/expat restaurants/bars. Although you are only a 15-20 minute walk from Hengshan lu. 1 block away from Yanan Highway and 4-5 blocks away from the Jiangsu or Jingan subway stations on the #2 line.

#41 Hengshan is also very popular if your allowance is large enough. Very close to western/expat bars and restaurants (TGI Fridays, Paulaner, Simply Thai, ....). #41 has a small exercise facility on site, but no pool or tennis court. There is a exercise facility a couple of blocks away I believe on HuaiHai Xi Lu which a lot of tenants use. 1-2 block walk to the Hengshan lu subway station on the #1 line.

Time Square is at the east end of HuaiHai Zhong Lu and is connected to a shopping mall with a small grocery store in the basement. Lots of restaurants and shopping near by. Very close to restaurants/bars of Xintiandi. 3-4 blocks from the Huangpi subway station on the #1 line.

Not sure where you are going to work, but as you are single you are probably better off living on the Puxi (west) side of the Huangpu river where there tends to be more restaurants/bars.

Good luck!

Two more serviced apartments to considered:

CHELSEA
Chelsea is very close to Royal Pavillion. It has very nice rooms, complete services and ammenities (indoor pool, gym, etc.).

ARCADIA
Arcadia, in my opinion is quite not as nice as Chelsea and other apts mentioned by Troc. But it's still way above regular Shanghai standards and has indoor pool, tennis court, saunas, gym and reading room. It's located at the heart of Xujiahui, a major hot spot in Shanghai. It's within 10 minutes walk to subway, buses, shopping and hundreds (no exaggeration) of restuarants.

If you won't be getting a car/driver, ease of transportation and getting around by foot should be the primary considerations.

Also, TRY real hard NOT to tell the real estate agent your budget. You can bet if you do that you will be paying on the HIGH end of it,,, if not THE HIGH, and the neighbors will be paying far less !! Give them a 'ballpark low' figure, and then you can go from there. Also if you can avoid telling them WHO (or is it whom?) at the beginning----- your employer that will help too.

I have to laugh on the RP quote of 'great' managment !! I live here, (1.5 yrs) and while it maybe good, it certainly is NOT great! !! But I am not sure any place here in Shanghai for that matter is. Most of the time it is like pulling teeth to get an answer, and even then they do not always understand. Believe me,, the people working on the SELL side of apartments speak FANTASTIC English,,,,(and they disappear like dust once you have signed the lease !!) the 'front desk' people,, I must say they DO try, however their launguage skills leave a lot to be desired. I mean,,, either you have an ENGLISH staff or you do NOT !!

Good luck finding a place and welcome to Shanghai, it is an ADVENTURE every day!!

Sass !!!

Have a look around. I looked at some of the ones above, and decided on one completely different because it was within walking distance from work. This has been a blessing and a curse... Something for you to think about though. Transport can be an adventure here. I have no issues with the subway, it helps me get closer to my fellow man (almost intimate at times!). Taxis are abundant, but only when you are not in a hurry or when it does not rain! Both of the latter can cause serious frustration. Of course, you should find a place to live with cool stuff around to do. I had a recommendation from someone to live in the French Concession. It is a nice area, and if it is convenient to your work, go for it.

Just my comments. By the way, I agree fully with the comments about Real Estate Agents. Friendly as anything at the beginning and say yes to everything. Once the lease is signed, it can also be a fight to implement what is actually IN the lease! So do not sign on the dotted line until the flat looks exactly like you want and you have everything agreed. Don't leave anything until later.

Tripster

Thank you all for the advise. I didn't put my budget down for that very reason. I have seen advertisments on here in the past. Can you give me a Ball Park figure for some of the places listed above? I am negotiating a driver right now and will not settle without one, but that is more for business purposes. My office is located on Cao Xi Road (N), if that helps give you an idea of where I will be working.

Thanks
Oilman