Advice on moving to china to work

Hi,

It looks like I'm to be offered a short term placement
in Beijing .

Does anybody have any links to sites offering
general advice on what I can expect living there?

I'm looking for normal basic things like accomodation
transport and shopping.

I googled for some links but most of them were job
boards or contained specific information (like 2 pages
of advice on what to do if invited to dinner at the
bosses house, sorry I don't work in a world where
that is likely to happen).

TIA

tim

tim (back at home) wrote:
Hi,

It looks like I'm to be offered a short term placement
in Beijing .

Does anybody have any links to sites offering
general advice on what I can expect living there?

I'm looking for normal basic things like accomodation
transport and shopping.

I googled for some links but most of them were job
boards or contained specific information (like 2 pages
of advice on what to do if invited to dinner at the
bosses house, sorry I don't work in a world where
that is likely to happen).

TIA


How short a term? Do they offer you housing allowance? Where is your
office? Will you do a lot of travel?
tim

"PeterL" wrote in message
oups.com...

tim (back at home) wrote:
Hi,

It looks like I'm to be offered a short term placement
in Beijing .

Does anybody have any links to sites offering
general advice on what I can expect living there?

I'm looking for normal basic things like accomodation
transport and shopping.

I googled for some links but most of them were job
boards or contained specific information (like 2 pages
of advice on what to do if invited to dinner at the
bosses house, sorry I don't work in a world where
that is likely to happen).

TIA


How short a term?

3 months which may become 4 or 5. Assuming that
China has a 6 month rule for tax residency I don't
want to stay longer.

Do they offer you housing allowance?

Hopefully the (EU) company will be picking up the
bills direct. I want to lead them down the path to
something other than hotel. (I really hate living
in a 12 by 10 (feet) room for weeks). If I do
nothing they will just book the hotel.

Where is your
office?

No Idea, I don't even know the name of the
end client.

Will you do a lot of travel?

Not on business, but I shall want to do whatever
is reasonable/necessary as a tourist. This is likely
to be my only ever trip to China so I shall want to
see as much as possible.

thanks

tim

tim (back at home) wrote:
"PeterL" wrote in message
oups.com...

tim (back at home) wrote:
Hi,

It looks like I'm to be offered a short term placement
in Beijing .

Does anybody have any links to sites offering
general advice on what I can expect living there?

I'm looking for normal basic things like accomodation
transport and shopping.

I googled for some links but most of them were job
boards or contained specific information (like 2 pages
of advice on what to do if invited to dinner at the
bosses house, sorry I don't work in a world where
that is likely to happen).

TIA


How short a term?

3 months which may become 4 or 5. Assuming that
China has a 6 month rule for tax residency I don't
want to stay longer.


Well you should look for short term service apartments then.

Do they offer you housing allowance?

Hopefully the (EU) company will be picking up the
bills direct. I want to lead them down the path to
something other than hotel. (I really hate living
in a 12 by 10 (feet) room for weeks). If I do
nothing they will just book the hotel.

Where is your
office?

No Idea, I don't even know the name of the
end client.


Where you are going to live would depends on where your office is, no?

Will you do a lot of travel?

Not on business, but I shall want to do whatever
is reasonable/necessary as a tourist. This is likely
to be my only ever trip to China so I shall want to
see as much as possible.

thanks

tim

"PeterL" wrote in message
oups.com...

tim (back at home) wrote:
"PeterL" wrote in message
oups.com...

tim (back at home) wrote:
Hi,

It looks like I'm to be offered a short term placement
in Beijing .

Does anybody have any links to sites offering
general advice on what I can expect living there?

I'm looking for normal basic things like accomodation
transport and shopping.

I googled for some links but most of them were job
boards or contained specific information (like 2 pages
of advice on what to do if invited to dinner at the
bosses house, sorry I don't work in a world where
that is likely to happen).

TIA


How short a term?

3 months which may become 4 or 5. Assuming that
China has a 6 month rule for tax residency I don't
want to stay longer.


Well you should look for short term service apartments then.

I know, I was hoping that someone would have some
links that might point to these.

Where is your
office?

No Idea, I don't even know the name of the
end client.


Where you are going to live would depends on where your office is, no?

At the moment I'm just trying to find what's theoretically
available. If I ask for something without being able to
provide 'samples' they can just come back and say "that
sort of thing isn't available in China".

tim

On Sun, 30 Apr 2006 07:43:52 +0100, the renowned "tim \(back at
home\)" wrote:


"PeterL" wrote in message
roups.com...

tim (back at home) wrote:
"PeterL" wrote in message
oups.com...

tim (back at home) wrote:
Hi,

It looks like I'm to be offered a short term placement
in Beijing .

Does anybody have any links to sites offering
general advice on what I can expect living there?

I'm looking for normal basic things like accomodation
transport and shopping.

Transport (buses, taxis, subway etc.) can be slow and crowded, so
picking a place close to your office is important. Shopping and
restaurants are no problem. There's a good selection and excellent
quality food available, at very reasonable prices. Beijing has a lot
of choices available these days.

I googled for some links but most of them were job
boards or contained specific information (like 2 pages
of advice on what to do if invited to dinner at the
bosses house, sorry I don't work in a world where
that is likely to happen).

TIA


How short a term?

3 months which may become 4 or 5. Assuming that
China has a 6 month rule for tax residency I don't
want to stay longer.


Well you should look for short term service apartments then.

I know, I was hoping that someone would have some
links that might point to these.

Don't know about links, but one place I saw in South China was a
high-rise hotel with a typical 3-star hotel lobby (four or five girls
behind the desk, a conceierge and transportation desk, and a
restaurant) and a lobby one floor above that was like an apartment
(just a security guard and mailboxes). The hotel section had 1, 2, 3
month rates as well as inflated daily rack rates. All the info re long
term rates I saw was in Chinese only.



Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com

"tim (back at home)" wrote in message
...

"PeterL" wrote in message
oups.com...

tim (back at home) wrote:
"PeterL" wrote in message
oups.com...

tim (back at home) wrote:
Hi,

It looks like I'm to be offered a short term placement
in Beijing .

Does anybody have any links to sites offering
general advice on what I can expect living there?

I'm looking for normal basic things like accomodation
transport and shopping.

I googled for some links but most of them were job
boards or contained specific information (like 2 pages
of advice on what to do if invited to dinner at the
bosses house, sorry I don't work in a world where
that is likely to happen).

TIA


How short a term?

3 months which may become 4 or 5. Assuming that
China has a 6 month rule for tax residency I don't
want to stay longer.


Well you should look for short term service apartments then.

I know, I was hoping that someone would have some
links that might point to these.

Where is your
office?

No Idea, I don't even know the name of the
end client.


Where you are going to live would depends on where your office is, no?

At the moment I'm just trying to find what's theoretically
available. If I ask for something without being able to
provide 'samples' they can just come back and say "that
sort of thing isn't available in China".

This is a link to a budget hotel which has some suites www.redhouse.com.cn;
not exactly apartments but big and should be comfortable for a long stay. I
think they have a few long term residents. I stayed there last year (normal
room) and liked the place - friendly, casual, clean - but not 5 star. I
think the daily rate for a suite is 600RMB but I assume they could give a
better monthly rate. The hotel has a friendly bar (and a 2nd North Korean
theme bar upstairs for a serious change) and OK pub style food.




*** Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com ***

About a link:
I think those people can help in Beijing: www.easycitysolutions.com
They helped me when I was staying there for three months. Found me a
nice flat. The cool thing was that I could talk in English and in
German (my mothertongue) with them. It took care of a lot of
misunderstandings. Those guys have native speakers in English, German,
French, and some other in the Company. Their other service was also
quite helpful.
Best regards
Emil

wrote in message
oups.com...
About a link:
I think those people can help in Beijing: www.easycitysolutions.com
They helped me when I was staying there for three months. Found me a
nice flat. The cool thing was that I could talk in English and in
German (my mothertongue) with them. It took care of a lot of
misunderstandings. Those guys have native speakers in English, German,
French, and some other in the Company. Their other service was also
quite helpful.
Best regards

Thanks very much.

The company hiring me have said that they think they can
sort out an apartment in the hotel that they normally use.
But I'm not convinced that it isn't just going to be a long
stay room, slighty bigger, cleaned less often but with all of
the othet hotel restrictions (no guests, hotel rates for phone
calls, no laundry facilities etc) which ARE the things that I
am seeking to avoid

tim