Arriving At The Beijing Language and Culture University Without Accommodation

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Have you just found out that you will have nowhere to stay once you get to the Beijing Language and Culture University? Perhaps all the on-campus accommodation is booked out and you don't know where else to turn. This article aims to offer you some temporary solutions while you get things sorted and to give you some much needed peace of mind as well.

Don't panic

First of all, don't worry too much. There will be other people in the same position as you. I used to study at BLCU for a year and lived on-campus for the first semester. I know it's an unpleasant situation to be in when you're going to a new place, but things generally work themselves out if you're proactive.

Over summer I wanted to moved back onto campus after having a bad apartment experience and tried to arrange a reservation at Dorm 17 over the phone. They told me there were no rooms available and to try calling the student housing office instead. I then went into Dorm 17 directly and spoke with the receptionist in person. This time I was told that there WERE rooms available and I could reserve one with an initial deposit. So my experience has been that you can't always rely on what they tell you over the phone. Ridiculous, I know.

Many people get very angry at how badly BLCU manages student accommodation bookings and advanced reservations. For a university that caters to thousands of foreigners each year, the fact that many of their staff can barely speak English is frankly unacceptable. This is one of the biggest complaints I had during my time at BLCU and many others will tell you the same. Somehow, though, everyone survives in the end.

Be proactive

You're in an unfortunate situation where you've left booking accommodation too late and at this stage there may not be a whole lot you can do. I would say this though: once you get to BLCU, go round the different Dorms and ask if there are any rooms available (particularly at the Conference Centre). You may be pleasantly surprised that the answer is different when you're there in person. If this is the case, you've found an instant solution. If not, I would recommend you ask to have your name put down on waiting lists. Try calling back every few days so they get used to your face and check if any rooms have freed up. This does happen and then it's really a first-come-first-serve policy.

The Xi Jiao Hotel

One option is to stay at the Xi Jiao hotel just to the West of campus. The room rates are substantially higher (around 250 RMB/night) than those on-campus but it's a good last resort when you have nowhere else to turn. During your first few days and weeks at BLCU you will probably bump into a lot of people who are looking for flatmates and open to sharing an apartment with someone they've just met as an instant solution to their dilemma. Until you get something sorted, the Xi Jiao Hotel could be a good (if slightly costly) short-term solution.

Websites

Websites such as the Beijing section of couchsurfing.org aim to help foreigners who have nowhere to stay when travelling. Although I've never made use of the service myself, I've heard it recommended by others.

You can also check thebeijinger.com and pekinglettings.com for classified adds if you're looking for an apartment (I would suggest searching in the Wudaokou area). Some apartment complexes in walking distance of BLCU that come to mind are Furin Jiayuan (east of campus), Hanting Jiayuan (a new complex finished in 2010 just north of campus where I rented for six months), and Huaqing Jiayuan (west of campus just near the Wudaokou subway station).

Estate agencies

Dealing directly with estate agencies was always my preferred method of apartment hunting when I was at BLCU, though I can see the benefits to searching online as well. For one thing, walking round estate agencies and trying to communicate in broken Chinese can take up a lot of time. The advantage of opting for this way of approaching apartment letting is that the estate agents will nearly always have a list of apartments available for immediate viewing. It is also a good way to practice your Chinese.

Be sure to take your time with viewing and don't get pressured into signing a contract before you've really taken the time to consider it and see the alternatives. Feel free to check in at as many different estate agents as you can find in the area. Unfortunately I no longer have contact numbers for the agents I used to deal with and could recommend, but that shouldn't stop you finding some in Wudaokou and other areas around BLCU.

My friend's story

I had a friend who was in this position when I first arrived at BLCU. He had managed to get a room at the Conference Centre for three nights but after that he had nowhere to go. I went with him all round campus trying to get him a room in one of the other dorms but nothing was available.

We decided to go to the student housing building and make a fuss that he didn't have a place to stay. At first they said there was nothing they could do but I could tell the guy hadn't even bothered to make further enquiries. So we pushed him to go look into it some more. 

Eventually he did and found us a room at one of the foreign student dorms that would be available for the next month. This was at one of the same dorms we had asked at earlier that day (as I said, we'd tried everywhere). This is an example of what I meant by bad accommodation management on BLCU's part. So now he had a place to stay until he organised an apartment off-campus. 

Within a couple weeks he had met someone in the second-floor cafe of the Conference Centre who mentioned that he was also looking for a flatmate and had in fact been in Beijing for a few years already. This ended up working out great because it turned out he could speak excellent Mandarin and took care of most of the organisation behind getting an apartment contract sorted out. 

I'm not saying it's necessarily going to work out so smoothly for everyone, but stay positive and know that the possibilities are there.

Hopefully this article has shed some more light on your situation and given you back some power, or at the very least left you feeling a bit more comforted than before you started reading. Do you have a story to share about arriving at BLCU with nowhere to stay? If so, how did YOU deal with it and what tips and advice can you offer to others?

One last thing...

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