Where to stay when first moving to Shanghai/China?

[NDeft]

Hi,

Need some advice on what people did when moving to Shanghai(or any city in China) for the first time.

My preference is to stay in a shared apartment in the long run as plan to be around for at least a year and a half.

However, before heading over, do people generally stay on campus or did they have something else lined up beforehand(eg homestay, hostel, cheap hotel)?

I don't really fancy staying in a dorm at all and seems most uni's tie you in for a semester, but want to have something lined up before I arrive obviously.

Guidance appreciated!

[woliveri]

I stayed on campus my first semester (SISU) and then moved off campus. When I moved off campus I was no longer at the uni.. (only one semester).

You should stay at least one semester on campus IMO if you've never been before. At least you can get your feet wet and decide the best location for you.

[taylor04]

I would recommend staying on campus at first as well. I don't know the situation at your university, but in Hangzhou we could pay however we wanted, daily, weekly, monthly, etc. Even if you have to commit to a month, it'll give you time to find a place you like and possibly a roommate.

Worst case scenario, when you first get there they ask you to pay for a whole semester and you can just say you don't have that much money on you. While the dorms do screw foreigners as far as prices go, it is still cheaper than most of the hotels out there.

[yaritai]

Would not recommend living at university. You can ask anyone around you.

But really depends on which university you will go to. In Beijing some of the dorms are ok.

In Shanghai they are not good at all. I can only base this on the experience of looking at Jiaotong, Fudan and SISU dorms.

Shared with own room is a lot better value for money.

If you can afford it living on your own is always best. There are some cheap places to stay around university.

For Fudan, there are heaps of cheap places around Uni, because Fudan is like living in the suburbs/country side.

Jiaotong is more expensive but easily affordable for most. The exterior might not look great. But inside can be quite nice.

My advice is based on other people's experiences around me....

Best to stay at a cheap hotel, or even a youth hostel around People's square is what a lot of other people did that seemed to work well.

Cheers