This is the place where I’m living for three months. My apartment is near the Daxin metro station, which makes it somewhat convenient to get around. The building is the middle one with the green glass on top.
This is taken from near the Daxin station. Notice the KFC on the corner. KFC is HUGE here, for all three meals, and with commercials airing constantly.
One must go in the apartment from the back, where a guard checks you out to make sure you don’t look sketchy and then presses a button to allow you through the turnstile. A short elevator ride (or more often for me a hop up the stairs if the elevators will take to long), and I’m on the 5th floor, where my apartment is. The door is a little excessive. A locking metal door followed by a separately keyed wood door makes entering or leaving a drawn out affair full of fumbling keys in the dark.
The decoration was already on there, and I didn't have any incentive to remove it.
Inside is modest. A small bed, couch, coffee table, TV, and wardrobe occupy the 12×15 main room. If you have any complaints about the sheets, kindly keep them to yourself.
The view outside is not fantastic. I never get any direct sunlight, which means my clothes never completely dry.
Also on the patio is a washing machine. There is no drier, but there is a bar on the ceiling from which one hangs their clothes in the hope that the dampness of the clothes will somehow transfer to the air, when the reality is the humidity and lack of direct sunlight mean the clothes somehow seem to only get wetter.
The next three rooms are so small the photos must be taken vertically so as not to waste space.
The wash basin:
All my toiletries are on the shelf under the mirror. The other stuff was here when I got here.
The bathroom. I have to stand next to the toilet to shower.
The bathroom is strange. It’s extremely cramped, so I have to hide the towel while I’m showering to prevent it from getting soaked, and after a shower I have to wipe everything off with a sponge because it won’t dry on its own.
The kitchen is also tiny, but sufficient. The previous owner left various tools and food, some of which has attracted fruit flies and cockroaches, so cleaning it up has been less than fun.
That’s the full tour of the place. It’s probably 250-300 square feet, and I’m paying 2500 RMB a month (about 400 USD). It’s acceptable; not something to brag about, but not like living on the street.