marmalade07

Hi, just wondering, I organized my own internship in Beijing this summer July and August. I was actually looking into housing and was hoping to find a potential roommate? Anyone else here (as in college undergraduate) interning in Beijing this summer? I'm a rising junior.

Thanks! Just wanted to ask

hello_motto

I am not working in Beijing this year,

But I lived at a really great place called SOLO II last summer, single bedroom+ bathroom + internet+ TV + AC + all the water/electricity. 2700 Yuan a month, although I think its cheaper now b/c of the Olympics last year. And they always have rooms available.

北京SOLO2青年公寓, google it for more information,

Its in a really great part of town and I would say less than 3 miles to Tiananmen. And safe and it has this old lady selling bookleg DVDs outside for super cheap......

Hope that helps

marmalade07

hey thanks that helps a lot. i checked out the pictures it looks nice! is it like a hostel? can i just show up and ask them if i can have like a 6 week lease?

hello_motto

I was kind in the same situation last year, its very hard to find a apartment that will give you a short short term lease and the hotels are way too expensive for my budget.


1) There is no lease. However, there is a day price and a month price, obviously the monthly price is cheaper than the daily price.

2) Room availability never was a problem for me. I was in and out of Beijing before and during the Olympics quite a bit and always found a room there. I did not call beforehand or anything.


PROS.
- No annoying landlord, they have a pretty friendly staff and a member of the staff is always in the building 24/7.They pretty much leave you alone.

- In a good part of Beijing, its close to Tian Tan, 天坛, and Tiananmen Square. Its less 100 feet away from New Century Mall (新世纪). There are plenty of ATMs, restaurants, and even a movie theater inside. I remember there is a 7-11, McDonald's, Starbucks, and Haggen Das all within 300 feet. I use to go to the Starbucks a lot because they have an incredibly fast internet.

- You easily walk to Tong Ren Hospital (同仁医院). I got really sick once and that was pretty convenient.

- All the taxi drivers know where New Century Mall (新世界商场) is and you can easily walk to the apartment in less than 3 minutes. And the ChongWenMen subway station is also very very close. (崇文门)

FOR ME, the biggest pro is there is a place to buy train tickets within walking distance from there, made life 10x easier.

CONS

- The internet is a bit slow.

- The actual building is a bit hard to find because its attached to an apartment complex, but just call them and they will meet at a store nearby. Its a 6 story building. Its connected to an apartment complex called 都市馨园.

- Its away from Hong Hai and SanLitTun, where all the bars and clubs are.


The apartment is one of the buildings in the background.
Panoramio - Photo of Li Lianying's Former Residence [?????], East Xinglong Steet, Chongwen District, Beijing (Qing Dynasty, 1636~1911)

The General Area (Picture bit dated)
Panoramio - Photo of chong wen men


Let me know if you have any questions and I be happy to help you out!

marmalade07

i was wondering..

1. did you go to china by yourself? this is my first big trip to china alone and unfortunately my other friends didn't get the internships in beijing so idk if you have any suggestions or advice about that

2. also did you just bring your regular laptop that you use in school back to china with you? i have a sony vaio but i don't know if i should bring that back and if it works with the internet conneciton over there or maybe i should buy a cheap netbook?

3. would you happen to know of other apartment places like you mentioned, i think i can afford to pay $1000usd ~ (6000RMB) for 6 weeks, does SOLO charge a standard price for all rooms ?? i'm basically trying to find the closest one to dongsi bei da jie, i've been trying to study google maps but its kinda of hard, do you happen to know if the apt is close or not to there?

4. how did you hear of SOLO?

Thanks!!

wolverine2013

Here comes a native Beijinger~~~ ask any questions about Beijing~~~

lalaluluhuhu

I'm going to Beijing this summer too! but only for visiting family though...
I wonder how did you apply for that internship and where did you find it?
I am always interested in internships but don't know where to look for them~

marmalade07

hey wolverine, are you familiar with this area 107 Dongsi Bei Da Jie, Dong cheng 100007? I was wondering what kind of place was it, whats it by etc?

lalaluluhuhu: it took a veryyy long time to find one. i would say that I've been searching since december. so basically my school arranges internship hosts so they have a list of 5 companies that they already have contacts with, also when i googled it, many other universities do the same. (so i could have easily gone with the school, but my timing was an issue so i didn't) as for my own internship, i had to find it by myself. so really i just emailed them. the key is to find small companies, so that the people there actually check their emails. also it is helpful to find american companies who have branches in asia. (ideally smaller branches) anwyays, i must have sent out 30+ coverletter and resumes. my mistake was blinding emailing in the beginning. in my opinoin you should target your list. google other universities programs and find out the names of those companies and go directly to them .

as for one other tactic i tried. i found a company that had a office in NYC and a shanghai location. i called direclty to NYC and spoke to an associate, i asked to email my resume directly to him. and then during spring break, i went ot NYC and actually walked into the office and introduced myself. and then I found/guessed the emails of all the directors in shanghai and emailed all of them. after this i FINALLY got a phone interview, and to be honest i think my mandarin wasn't good enough, but they might've taken me, the only reason they didn't was because of timing. so ...yea thats an extreme case of me going for it, i'm not sure thats the best way, so good luck to you however u decide to approach it

wolverine2013

its a great place~~~ central of beijing near Tiananmen Square, the forbidden city~~~

truucharms

hey marmalade,
so what is the internship you're going to do in the summer? tell me the company and location and I might be able to help :] i got relatives there and I'm sure I can find you a place that's near the company.

Cindy Lei

just saw the topic, and i am looking for a summer intership too.
i'm a student in beijing

Cindy Lei

I am a student in Beijing, and i just wondering how to find a internship during this summer vacation. i