Renting a flat in Hangzhou

Abstract

Shortly after my arrival at Zhejiang Agricultural University as a visiting scholar, I faced the question of where to live. There were of course the guesthouses on campus, but these ranged in price from 3,000 to 4,800 yuan per month (about US$400 to $600). By contrast, apartment rentals in nearby Hangzhou ran from about 500 yuan per month for a two-room unfurnished flat to a monthly rent of about 1,500 yuan for a furnished, three-room flat equipped with air conditioner, telephone, and assorted fixtures. Even though the latter rates are somewhat expensive by local standards, they still represent a considerable savings over guest-house accommodations on campus, as well as affording a degree of privacy that I deemed important to the conduct of life during my research project.