Shanghai Bob

In less than 24 hours after I started looking, I signed a contract on an apartment in Shanghai.  The rent is expensive by local standards, but almost a third of what I paid for my Tokyo and London apartments.  6000 RMB/month gets a one-bedroom apartment of around 55 square meters in a “serviced” building.  Serviced means they have guards downstairs, maids if you need one, and a bilingual concierge who can send faxes and registered mail, and help with other things that require Chinese language ability.

Update:

It’s fully furnished, in the same building as Andrew’s place, directly across the street from the university, on the tenth floor, south-facing, very clean and quiet, but poorly insulated like all Shanghai buildings, so I wear a ski hat and fleece vest in the house.  I am looking forward to spring!

I also got a mobile phone (I have to break myself of the habit of calling it a “keitai”) for 1000 RMB, an eight-month gym membership for 500 RMB (less than $100!), and some personal name cards with the Chinese name Yi Mao (no relation to the Chairman) gave me:

罗博特 = luóbótè = Robert

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 21st, 2009 at 9:06 am and is filed under preliminaries, shanghai.