You want to rent an apartment in China… where to begin?

In our other blog posts, we’ve talked about how to search for and rent an apartment in China 🏡

In our previous video, we talked about requirements you might have and the types of apartments available in China. We also shared some tips to help you try and find a better deal.

(If you need a refresher on these points, click here).

Today, let’s talk about apartment rental apps and how you can use them to rent an apartment in China – or more specifically, your dream place in China. Renting an apartment in China can be stressful, especially due to language barrier. We will equip you with some basic knowledge and hopefully help you rent an apartment in China without any problems!

Don’t forget we offer free trial classes where you can review all of this and more!

👉 Location: rent an apartment in China in a good location

The first thing when using apps to help you search for renting an apartment in China will be the question in which area you want to live in.

It’s called 区域 (qūyù) in Chinese.

You can choose the district or (some of the apps have this option too) the closest subway station.

👉 Basic options to rent an apartment in China

When renting apartment you might need to choose first between some basic options so that your search results can be more precise.

Do you want to rent the whole apartment or to share it with other people?

Choose 整租 zhěngzū for a whole apartment option or 合租 hézū if you’re looking for a room in a shared place.

The next option is how long you’d like to stay there.

You can choose between 长租 chángzū (a long-term lease) and 短租duǎnzū (short-term lease).

👉 Price

You can also choose the desired price range or 价格范围 jiàgé fànwéi by choosing the lowest and highest prices.

This is really helpful as this way the app can narrow down its suggestions and get rid of the crazy expensive options or the ones that might be too cheap (as it might show that the apartment’s condition is not that great).

👉 Photos

There’re 2 more great options the apartment rental app can offer you.

There’s a proverb saying that “it’s better to see something once than to hear about it a thousand times”. And that’s true.

You never know what the apartment looks like until you actually see it.

That’s why you can always have a look at the photos of the apartments and their inner design and condition.

BUT be careful. After all, photos can not tell you everything. We often hear that many people try to make the apartments look better than they actually are.

Always go and see the apartment you like with your own eyes.

👉 Map

Many apps have a map view, so you can easily check the location of each apartment.
It’s better to have at least a rough idea of its surroundings.

How far is it from the subway station? Are there any supermarkets nearby? Any other places you can reach within walking distance?

This way you can tell whether the location is convenient for you to live in or not.

Once you’ve listed all our requirements, the agent will bring you to see potential apartments. Pick the one that fits you the best, sign the contract (签合同 qiān hétong)… and move in!