Hey Jay
Seems like you live close to my hometown Hamburg in Germany. My name is Kai and I currently live in Shanghai. By the way I heard that Shanghai is a lot nicer than Beijing, but I guess that is not up to you. In regards to dogs I can only speak about my experience here in Shanghai. Here you will find very few big dogs and there are a lot of restrictions when it comes to what you can do with your dogs and where. In Shanghai you can pretty much buy everything that you can get in europe or the states.
Furniture I would suggest you put in storage. Almost everything in this country is dirtcheap.I think the more you bring the more headache you will have. Usually you can get appartements and houses unfurnished and furnished. That is all a matter of your allowance or budget.My experience is that you can live very reasonable and save money or you can live very luxurious but you pay your ass off. Very nice thing is that everybody has a maid and that they are really cheap.Trust me as soon as you come to china you will meet the expat community and they will all tell you about everything. As I said this is my experience from Shanghai but I assume it is similar in Beijing.
If you need some advice on Health insurance I can definetely help you since I work for an american company that specializes in insurance for expatriates.We have offices in Beijing and Shanghai and it is definetely worth to compare our plan with yur excisting coverage.
If you have questions let me know.
kaip@gbgi.net or kpoepplau@yahoo.de
take care and see you in china

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00abuse

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hi
We moved to Beijing about 8 months ago and had to make the same decisions about hosuing as you are having to make.
I don't have a dog, but I do regularly look after a labrador at my friends house. She tells me that you can only have big dogs beyond the fourth ring road, which means you are restricted to where you can live. Beijing Riviera is beyond the fourth RR, so you are ok. Riviera is considered to be the most exclusive housing area in BJ. Like all these hosuing complexes it feels more like you are living in U.S. suburbia than China. People make references to the Truman Show and question whether the sky is real too!
You can choose between furnished and unfurnished. It's really up to you. Yes furniture is cheap, but if you want a bit of your 'home' in China, bring your own things. It all depends on your shipping allowance given by your employer. We brought some favourite pieces.
Dog food- you can get the Eukano? brand and another in a bright yellow packet (Pedigree Chum?). There is nothing you can't get here, so I wouldn't worry about it. Dog walking- as I say big dogs are not allowed within the fourth RR so you can't take them to the parks. About an hour's drive frm Riviera are some hills, but there are also rivers/countryside nearby you can walk the dogs. You need to make sure you get house staff that like dogs though as many Chinese are wary of them.
There are other housing complexes you may want to consider, but they are all much of a muchness really. I live on one too! Beijing is an interesting place and I hope you enjoy it.
Good Luck!

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00abuse

hi
We moved to Beijing about 8 months ago and had to make the same decisions about housing as you are having to make.
I don't have a dog, but I do regularly look after a labrador at my friend's house. She tells me that you can only have big dogs beyond the fourth ring road, which means you are restricted to where you can live. Beijing Riviera is beyond the fourth RR, so you are ok. Riviera is considered to be the most exclusive housing area in BJ. Like all these hosuing complexes it feels more like you are living in U.S. suburbia than China. People make references to the Truman Show and question whether the sky is real too!
You can choose between furnished and unfurnished. It's really up to you. Yes furniture is cheap, but if you want a bit of your 'home' in China, bring your own things. It all depends on your shipping allowance given by your employer. We brought some favourite pieces.
Dog food- you can get the Eukano? brand and another in a bright yellow packet (Pedigree Chum?). There is nothing you can't get here, so I wouldn't worry about it. Dog walking- as I say big dogs are not allowed within the fourth RR so you can't take them to the parks. About an hour's drive frm Riviera are some hills, but there are also rivers/countryside nearby you can walk the dogs. You need to make sure you get house staff that like dogs though as many Chinese are wary of them.
There are other housing complexes you may want to consider, but they are all much of a muchness really. I live on one too! Beijing is an interesting place and I hope you enjoy it.
Good Luck!

Post a Reply

00abuse