'China Accommodation' ↓

According to China’s Foreigners Entry and Exit Regulations, a foreigner, if not staying in a hotel, say staying in a friend’s place, needs to go to the Public Security Bureau (PSB) office within 24 hours upon arrival in China to get a Temporary Residence Certificate. You need to bring your passport, and your host’s identity document to the PSB for registration.

The certificate (just a small piece of paper really) shows where you stay and your passport number, and you are supposed to carry this certificate with you all the time. Failing to do so, according to the Regulations, can subject you to a verbal warning or a fine of more than 50RMB but less than 500RMB.

The purpose of the Certificate is for the Chinese government to keep track of where foreigners stay. If they stay in a hotel, there is no need for them to get such a Certificate, as they must register with the hotel when check-in. That registration itself is a certificate already.

This is a true story that has happened to a friend of mine who once stayed in a university accommodation in Hangzhou. He was holding a 3-month tourist visa then and wanted to extend the visa with the PSB. To his surprise, he was told that to renew the visa he must produce the Temporary Residence Certificate, which he was supposed to apply for soon after his arrival at China. He didn’t know the rule and didn’t have one. So he was fined RMB100.

The lesson? If you do not stay in a hotel and you expect that you will need to extend your visa (both L visa and F visa), make sure that you go to the local PSB office to apply for a Temporary Residence Certificate within 24 hours upon arrival in China.

In a city like Hangzhou, there are a number of administrative zones, and in each of these zones, there is a designated PSB office. Take note that you must to the PSB office of the zone where you stay for the registration. If you go to the wrong one, your case will not be handled.

Hangzhou International Youth Hostel at the Nanshan Road (No.101-3 Nanshan Road) is very ideally located – just right at the side of the beautiful West Lake. Opposite is the famous China Arts Institute (中國美術學院).  Nearby, on the tree-lined Nanshan road, you can find good bars, teahouses, restaurants, cafes, museums and galleries.

You cannot find another youth hostel in the whole Hangzhou such nicely located. I was very impressed by the location when I visited it years ago. 

The hostel is well run and has a nice garden and a tastefully decorated spacious living room. Room price ranges from US$4 in a dorm to US$ 18 for a single private ensuite. Some rooms have view over the West Lake.

You can book online here via Hostel World.

How expensive is the rent during the Olympics months in Beijing this summer? A two-room apartment of about 115 square meters, which is not more than half-a-hour walk from the major Olympic venues, will cost RMB14,500 in monthly rent, according to reports. The apartment’s current monthly rent is only RMB3,000.

In China, there is a special name for apartments like this - they call it “Olympic housing”. It refers to apartments near major Olympic venues, fully equipped with electrical appliances and furniture, and new - completed after year 2000. It is predicted that the rent will start to climb from May, culminating in August when the Games are held.

Hotel price, predictably, will also go up by four to six times over the same period. So if you plan to go to Beijing to watch the Olympics, plan for the accommodation now.

You can find websites devoted to housing/accommodation service during the Beijing Olympics, such as this one. Sorry, though, it is in Chinese language only.

I recommended a youth hotel in Shanghai in my last post. The group (Utels) which runs the hotel is actually big. It runs 91 youth hotels with most in China, and a few in Japan, Nepal and Phillipines. Apparently the group is very successful. It aims at a niche market in China: hotel service that combines the characteristics of a youth hotel and a low budget hotel.

The group operates hotels in most of the provinces and major cities in China. It has the strongest presence in Beijing, which sees 31 of its hotels.

You can make booking directly through its website.

If you look for a decent place to stay in Shanghai, I can recommend you a youth hotel. It is in a nice old neighbourhood of Shanghai called ¨Wuning¨, in a calm area. But at the same time, the hotel is centrally located, with convenient transport at hand and proximity to metro station.

Quite a few foreign young backpackers stay here. The price is reasonable, with RMB188 for a double room, with internet connection. The hotel started operation in 2005, so the rooms are pretty new, and clean. My friend is staying there, and he has high praise for the hotel.

Well, though it is called ¨youth hotel¨, it is not like the youth hostel you will encounter in the West where you may find some fun. But it has several computers in the lobby for the use of hotel guests and offers ticket and travel service. It also has a restaurant/cafeteria where there are a few sofas for travellers to rest , use wifi, and have drinks/food. Don´t expect that you can sit here and use your laptops without ordering any food. The restaurant staff will come direct to you and ask if you want food and drink once you enter the restaurant/cafeteria.

The hotel is called Vtels-shanghai Wuning. In Chinese, it is literally called ¨ten thousdand mile road international youth hotel¨(wanli lu guoji qingnian jiudian). You can book it directly through the Chinese page of Elong, but not through the English page.

Click here for the English page, and here for the Chinese page.

I recommend using this website (www.homtel.cn ) to rent an apartment in China, for its wealth of choice. I was told, however, that the photos displayed on the webs do not match the reality. And the landlord/lady will charge you extra money for this and that.  Given that there are so many fake products in China, a fake photo should not come as too much of a surprise.

The tip, therefore, is not to pay anything before you actually see the apartment.

I have quite nice experience with using the website though. Through the website listing, I found an apartment in Dalian, Liaoning province.

 This is the apartment I found at Dalian, costing RMB3,000 monthly.

I called at the posted contact number and the lady sounded very friendly and sincere. Normally, you are required to pay the rent before your booking is confirmed. But I told her I was not inside China so I would only pay upon arrival. She sounded very positive about this and raised no objections.

And the apartment was just like what it was shown on the photos, with all the modern household appliances, as promised on the internet. The lady even came to the airport for free pickup. The website didn’t mention internet connection but the apartment actually included this. In the middle of the month-long stay, the internet connection broke down. The lady was a bit slow in taking action to fix it but it was finally fixed after a week. No water or electricity bill was charged during the stay.

But as a foreigner, your not being able to speak Mandarin may be the downside. The lady in Dalian speaks very little English but she asked her English-speaking friend for help. Where there is business, the property owner will find a way. So no worries.

In Pingyao, there is a youth hostel called Yamen Hostel, probably the best youth hostel across China. Because the hostel is so wonderful, my friend has stayed in the city for over two weeks.

The hostel is located in a very well preserved and charming traditional courtyard mansion - with front yards and backyards, and halls in the middle. It was built in 1591 to house the emperor on his planned visit to the city, but the emperor cancelled his visit and the mansion was never used for its original purpose.

This explains the tranquil atmosphere and beautiful architectural design of the hostel. Undoubtedly, the attraction of the hostel lies in the rare opportunity it offers to foreign travelers to sample living in a hundreds-years-old Chinese building at a minimum price and with a lovely atmosphere.

The guest rooms are all richly decorated, with internet access. The lobby with comfortable sofas, pleasant music and wifi, is a great place to meet people, or read books, or surf the net. Most importantly, the staff is very friendly. Toward the end of his stay, my friend not only got a discount for his ensuite room, but also had two free nights of accommodation. 

And, the hostel has a nicely run kitchen - the food it churns out, western or eastern, is delicious.