Beijing becoming expensive!

[DavyJonesLocker]

My rental contract ends this month and my landlord came around last week. He wanted to up the rent by 1400 a month. 5400 to 6800 for an empty apartment. I live out past the 5th ring road. That's what? a 25% increase in two years! I really though he was being unreasonable but he said he just wants to charge the market rate. he'd a good landlord to be fair. I checked with a few estate agents and asked a wechat group. He'd pretty much in line with the market. 

 

I checked my old building in shuangjing. I paid 7500pm two years ago. They are asking 10000+ pm month now!

 

I noticed everything is rapidly increasing. Restaurants , gym membership,  etc

 

Rapidly becoming an expensive city.

 

 

 

[Brian US]

I was there in July for the first time in 5 years. All my favorite street markets and food vendors had closed up shop. The city is now unlivable.

[DavyJonesLocker]

I don't bother going to the hutongs anymore . Many seem to have become more like hipsters place to hang out with  prices to match.

[abcdefg]

4 hours ago, DavyJonesLocker said:

My rental contract ends this month and my landlord came around last week. He wanted to up the rent by 1400 a month. 5400 to 6800 for an empty apartment. I live out past the 5th ring road.

 

How large? 多少平方米？

[Lu]

But this has been going on for years. For housing, Beijing already is an expensive city - one of the most expensive in the world.

[DavyJonesLocker]

1 hour ago, abcdefg said:

How large? 多少平方米？

 

 

110m2 (by chinese imaginary measurements ) My 10,000kuai place mentioned in the thread is 65m2。 Realistically the liveable area is about x0.8 of that 

 

7 minutes ago, Lu said:

But this has been going on for years. For housing, Beijing already is an expensive city - one of the most expensive in the world.

 

Doesn't seem that linear though Prices seem to taper off for a year or two then recently took a rapid jump this year. Its the type of thing you only focus on when it affects you directly I suppose 

 

However on your 2nd point though,the yield on rental income is still very low in Beijing. My place is only giving the landlord 1.3-1.5% return max. Much lower than what you would expect in London for example. My brothers properties return about 3 - 4% also in Germany.  That shows its a capital  speculative focused market.  Presents a big economic risk for investors

[abcdefg]

Glad I'm in Kunming (for several reasons.) 

[imron]

Just gonna leave this here.

 

4 hours ago, Brian US said:

The city is now unlivable.

Been unlivable for quite a while, and it's been a long time since I last visited.

 

 

[vellocet]

Getting rid of the street markets and food vendors is part of the "civilized city" concept.  Any city that has them is lower down on the ladder.  They're viewed as dirty and unworthy and only used by filthy deplorables and China needs to move on.  There is a whole parcel of things a city needs to get rid of: shoe shiners, beggars, three-wheel bike and motorcycle taxis, and more.  Haven't seen a beggar in a few years now, and don't miss them.  I do miss getting a shoeshine, though.  

 

In my city they're now restricting ebikes to screw over the poor and put them on inconvenient buses instead.  We're in the grace period, but soon you'll need a motorcycle license and insurance, or else get a puny short-range ebike that goes very slow.  The ebike is the chariot of the working poor, but nobody in the government rides them, so who cares?  

[roddy]

Well, if we're playing that game.... I used to rent one of these - not that layout, but same size and idea for Y4000 2006/7. Though that's what, 8% a year? Perhaps not hugely unreasonable for

capital-city-centre + inflation. Capital city, economic growth, urbanisation - it ain't going to get cheaper. Even back in 2009/10 we'd gripe about rents and hatch plans to move to second/third tier cities. 

[Flickserve]

2 hours ago, vellocet said:

 

Getting rid of the street markets and food vendors is part of the "civilized city" concept.  Any city that has them is lower down on the ladder.  They're viewed as dirty and unworthy and only used by filthy deplorables and China needs to move on

 

 

just like Singapore....

 

On my last Beijing visit a few months ago, they had closed 小吃街 off 王府井. Bitterly disappointed but I am relieved I got the chance to visit a few years ago.

[StChris]

2 hours ago, roddy said:

Well, if we're playing that game.... I used to rent one of these - not that layout, but same size and idea for Y4000 2006/7. Though that's what, 8% a year? Perhaps not hugely unreasonable for

capital-city-centre + inflation. Capital city, economic growth, urbanisation - it ain't going to get cheaper. Even back in 2009/10 we'd gripe about rents and hatch plans to move to second/third tier cities. 

 

11,500 is still pretty reasonable for a fairly central location in a booming capital city. I imagine a similar place in a similar location in London would cost at least twice as much.

 

3 hours ago, abcdefg said:

Glad I'm in Kunming (for several reasons.)

 

Unless you have to be in a certain city for work reasons, then I would definitely recommend one of the smaller cities (I say smaller, but in Europe a city like Kunming would count as a major city). I was much more impressed by Beijing when I visited in 2007 than I was when I visited again last year.

[ChTTay]

Interesting thread. I live quite far out and rent is very affordable. I agree that within the city rent is quite crazy but ... it’s a major capital city. Apart from rent the cost of living is still quite low. Prices of most basics are still far away from making me think twice. 

 

“Street food” in China isn’t good and never has been. There’s this thing about confusing “local” food and “street food” that I think must stem from SE Asia. Of course in Thailand and other countries there is great street food and a great variety. Local people grab food on the way to work or in lunch breaks from these street side vendors. Chinese street food tends to be unhygienic and unhealthy. A last resort or something cheap and filling. They set up these street food streets at strategic tourist locations just for tourists. It’s street food only in the sense they’ve made a street with all the stalls that line either side. 

 

The eBike thing is annoying but understandable. Some of the larger bikes go 50-60km/h but are classed more as bicycles than motorbikes. Any knob can ride them without any kind of training, registration, licensing etc. Can’t see anywhere in Europe letting that happen. You can buy 小牛 bikes in the U.K. but need a motorbike license. 

 

For me, far from unlivable. This is year 9 in China and year 8 in Beijing.  

[Bibu]

1 hour ago, Flickserve said:

they had closed 小吃街 off 王府

it should  be closed many  years  ago , fake and low quality, anything on other streets are way better.A local never  went there . i and my collegues worked for  8 years  300 meters  from  it, never  went .

[Flickserve]

3 minutes ago, Bibu said:

anything on the street is way better.A local never  went there . i and my collegues worked for  8 years  300 meters  from  it, never  went .

I loved the atmosphere. Never tempted to eat anything there though. 
 

It’s like places in London that I haven’t been to. 

[Bibu]

2 minutes ago, Flickserve said:

loved the atmosphere. Never tempted to eat anything there though. 

牛街，护国寺is the place, not  just  lingering around , but  grab some  local food .隆福寺 used to be another  place  i went , burt down  many  years ago.

[Lu]

48 minutes ago, ChTTay said:

“Street food” in China isn’t good and never has been. There’s this thing about confusing “local” food and “street food” that I think must stem from SE Asia. Of course in Thailand and other countries there is great street food and a great variety. Local people grab food on the way to work or in lunch breaks from these street side vendors. Chinese street food tends to be unhygienic and unhealthy.

One word though: 煎饼.

 

But I agree about the food stalls off Wangfujing, that was purely for tourists. And nobody should eat seahorse-on-a-stick, that's even more wrong than eating dog.

[ChTTay]

煎饼 from the street ... love having my bean paste spread around with a paint brush ...

 

手抓饼 is another street delight. 烤冷面 yet another. 

 

I eat them every now and again but always feel better when it’s dark and can’t see the cart it’s coming from so well. I’d say I enjoy 烤冷面 more than the others. 

 

That orange-ish marinaded chicken you can add to everything bought of the street? Can’t get much worse than that. 

[zander1]

Sadly everytime I have returned to Beijing it's gotten more expensive and just much less 'fun' for lack of a better word. The food stalls closing down is one part of this (I'm not necessarily talking about the touristy areas here, plenty of local places with decent enough food, albeit pretty unhealthy as ChTTay mentioned) but I personally think the city hasn't ever really recovered from the great hutong-cleansing. Amazing local restaurants and bars frequented by Chinese and expats alike replaced with soulless shopping malls and identical chain cafes that can be found literally in any city in china, such a shame. It creates such a sterile atmosphere and I know eating in malls is common in e.g. HK or Singapore but Beijing is not that lacking in space to justify it imo.

[889]

There used to be an old guy at Wangfujing who was an utter artist at making those pancakes: he had the deliberate practiced arm and hand movements of a Peking opera master. Never ate the things but was mesmerized watching him.