Moving to Beijing

[AAA]

Hi,

I am moving to Beijing in a few weeks to open my firm's Chinese office. I would appreciate any tips or insights on any aspect of life over there. I have spent a grand total of two weeks in Beijing previously, so while not totally unfamiliar, I am still clueless.

As of right now I will be living at the Oriental Plaza. It was really a matter of availability as the other places I was looking at were full or wanted to gouge you during August. Any thoughts on the Oriental Plaza?

Initially I am planning on spending my mornings working on my Mandarin (I had a year in college....but that was a long time ago...and don't remember all that much) and the afternoons will be dealing with work. Any advice of a good place to learn? Google searches turn up a lot of options but I would love to hear any personal feedback.

The clothing options in Beijing seem rather disappointing, but HK and Shanghai are nearby so that should help. What are the odds Tony Gaziano adds a Beijing stop?

What is the social life of an expat like over there?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[Eason]

My Brother lives in Beijing, he could answer those questions better than me. I do know that 1, don't trust the chinese, and 2, when shopping, you should haggle down to at least 1/10th the first price they give.

 

[NaTionS]

I think this site will be helpful to you. http://www.beijingcommunity.com/ As for haggling, I was in Beijing last summer and generally, if it's a stall, you should haggle. It doesn't really work in actual stores with a few exceptions. Oriental Plaza has a huge mall that's definately worth checking out. Lots of high end stores like Paul & Shark, Dunhill, Paul Smith, etc... And a delicious food court too.

 

[SoCal2NYC]

Start smoking.

China holds 1/3 of the world's smokers.

 

[modern_leifeng]

Originally Posted by AAA

Hi,

I am moving to Beijing in a few weeks to open my firm's Chinese office. I would appreciate any tips or insights on any aspect of life over there. I have spent a grand total of two weeks in Beijing previously, so while not totally unfamiliar, I am still clueless.

As of right now I will be living at the Oriental Plaza. It was really a matter of availability as the other places I was looking at were full or wanted to gouge you during August. Any thoughts on the Oriental Plaza?

Initially I am planning on spending my mornings working on my Mandarin (I had a year in college....but that was a long time ago...and don't remember all that much) and the afternoons will be dealing with work. Any advice of a good place to learn? Google searches turn up a lot of options but I would love to hear any personal feedback.

The clothing options in Beijing seem rather disappointing, but HK and Shanghai are nearby so that should help. What are the odds Tony Gaziano adds a Beijing stop?

What is the social life of an expat like over there?

Thanks in advance for any help!

You're probably already here, so this is pretty much useless, but...

Oriental Plaza is a great place to live, very central and lots of bus/subway lines nearby, plus you go downstairs and have a huge mall.

What kind of clothing are you looking for? You can get a wide range of western brands here and for high end stuff, Oriental Plaza or Seasons Place are good options. The only problem is that due to import taxes (and the horrible dollar), prices here are far higher than what most Europeans or Americans are uesd to, so don't think a trip to Shanghai will help much. There are a few decent tailors in the city as well, but they lack the reputation of the more popular HK tailors that many on here know of.

As for social life, it is what you want it to be. Expats are generally friendly here and there are plenty of bars, clubs, and events, it just depends what you're into, you'll probably end up finding people who are into the same thing. Any other questions, feel free to ask...

 

[Matt]

Ya, you will find Asia expats a pretty approachable group en masse...we kinda all remember what it's like being The New Guy.

 

[zupermaus]

Dont do the ex-pat thing too much, hanging out in ex-pat ghettoes, going to ex-pat bars and living out of ex-pat hotels. Do take the initiative and explore, check out the hutongs to get your 'bearings' so to speak in as Chinese a world as you can get in sanitised Beijing. Aim to get lost- there are thousands remaining, almost all within the second ringroad are now protected or being rebuilt in places, and after that well, thats the 'worst' you can get in foreigness terms. Needless to say noone is ever going to insult you or assault you like many of the poorest areas in cities round the world, these are some of the safest places in the capital, and are off the scale compared to the Western danger levels we're used to in cities. -After that the rest of the city will be your oyster, make the most of it, and dont ever be put off by being the only foreign face in some neighbourhood youre passing through or delving in. You have to remember you are just part of a new wave of many previous waves of foreign faces to the capital, each of China's 200 minorities have representation there, from Muslim Xinjiangers to White Russians. Do smile, do say hello, do talk to people, do stop to look at things that interest you. There is a very small minority of Westerners that live in the hutongs, people who take up Chinese life (from the average 1 metre square living space to the outside alleyway washing, to the communal toilets), and are accepted into the community- to say theyve been there, done that before its all gone the way of the 21st Century lifestyles. These range from sociologists to hippy-esque businessmen, language learners to university lecturers. Also the 798 Factory area - its basically a very Western-friendly culture of art galleries and lofts (think NYC's Soho in the 80s), but peopled and run by Chinese. Beijing's art is the new bon vivant of the art scene, it looks set to take over from Berlin (that took the reins off London) as the coming worlds art capital. Be warned, the art can be very shocking, but the scene and people are very friendly. Its just a great place to hang out, and a working liveable part of the city- you dont have to be part of the art or design crowd.