New Home in Beijing

well, I'm definitely, undisputably, the Englishman abroad again.

Things can happen very quickly in Beijing, especially if you have money (cash preferred) and a USA cv/resume. To be more specific we did some apartment hunting and then I found a good job, all in the space of 1 week.

First of all the apartment hunting was interesting. Just like anywhere else, you pay more for a central location. We first started looking in the Sanlitun area. This is the westerners/embassy district. Sort of a nightlife and shopping mecca. It's also near the Olympic stadium so prices have gone up ridiculously. Some of the places were very nice but I thought they were too expensive, especially since I didn't have a job and didn't know how much money I will get payed. So my housing budget was just a guess at that point. In hindsight, we could have gotten one of the places but the agents were really trying to rip me off with a high commission. The price for a 2 bedroom (plus den/office), 2 bath place was 5800 RMB, about $775 per month. It was a big place.

So, we moved on and tried some other areas, a little bit further out of the city center. Essentially to save money and get a nicer place. We were shown a great, brand new, apartment complex in the Soho area of South Chaoyang. We had the choice of 2 brand new, furnished apartments (2 bed, 1 bath) and picked one. Without any credit, income or background checks of any kind we signed the lease the next day. The cost was 4500 RMB (or $600 per month) about 1/3 of the cost in LA. The experience was much different compared to the USA or UK. I didn't even have a job at this point, but 2 months rent and a 1 month deposit in cash was all that was required to seal the deal.

The only downsides seem to be that the building is so new that the hot water is not on for the building yet. So cold showers are the order of the day, or we can go out and go to a sauna massage place, which are plentiful in Beijing, for a hot shower. The other problem, is the location, which I will talk about later.

On my previous visit in June, I got a lead from Ben Radcliffe (my ex-Disney co-worker) on an animation company in Beijing for potential work. I had met with an old contact from the USA at a bar in Hou Hai park. He is now an equity partner at Xing Xing animation. So, I emailed the company attaching my resume and some of my work. Within minutes the president invited me to meet with him and his senior management (Americans). Well, the meeting went very well and a couple of days later they made me a decent offer. The money is quite decent when you compare cost of living and major expenses. Most importantly they arrange a work visa for me, which is essential because I am on a tourist visa now. I probably will not have to leave the country to get my visa, theoretically. They will also cover some of my moving expenses. Basically my flight to Beijing and loss of my deposit if I have to move closer to work. The problem I mentioned before is that the job location is too far from my apartment and the commute could be murder. It's not on the underground, there might be buses which could be slow but cheap, or I could take a taxi not quite so slow but expensive for the distance (about $7 roundtrip), or my own vehicle at unknown cost. The traffic here is really congested but also very undisciplined. Sort of a free for all, battle of the nerves. So I'm not sure about getting a small motorcycle. My own motorcycle is actually waiting to be shipped from LA to London -- not very useful.

So, for a 2 or 3 month period, I will probably have to deal with the commute and then move closer. Depending on how bad things are. We still have to deal with getting Tuya a student visa and time is running short. She basically needs to enroll in a Chinese language course and probably study English the rest of the time. We only have a couple of weeks to sort that out.

I added some photos of our apartment and the neighbourhood where we live. I think it's really nice and I've discovered lots of great shops and conveniences close by. Sometimes they are tricky to find because I can't read the signs very well. So you have to take a close look and peak inside, because it's not always obvious what kind of business it is.