Moving to Shanghai

Quick Note: I'm sure my readers have noticed that there has been a discrepancy in the timing of my posts, meaning that I did not make any posts from January to August; this is because my computer died, and I was not very inclined to continue to make blog posts from my phone. Thus, all of my posts from here on out will be detailing my experiences from January onward!

     Hi all! In this blogpost, I plan to outline my experience moving to Shanghai, i.e. finding housing and settling in and will give more detail about my internship in a future post!

     First off, moving to Shanghai was no easy task. My program offered no assistance to help me find places to live in Shanghai, so I had to start from square one. Luckily, I had some friends in Shanghai who had moved there two months prior, and were willing to connect me with a few real estate agents in the area. 

     However, for those who are looking to move to any city in China who are looking for a place to live and do not have realtor connections, do not fear! Lianjia (连家）is a very prevalent real estate company with locations all throughout China. Just drop into the store most convenient for you to get to and their employees can help you find houses in the area, no appointment needed! 

     After I made an appointment to meet with a real estate agent, we looked at a few houses in close proximity to my place of work. Within an hour of looking, I found an apartment I liked! Although it wasn't the best apartment ever, the rent was cheap ($2300 RMB, or a little more than $350 a month), and the landlord was very accommodating. I did have quite a few roommates though who moved in and out throughout the course of my time there, but luckily most of them tended to keep to themselves, and my room had it's own bathroom and wash machine, so I didn't have to deal with their messes. 

     A major reason I was able to find a house in Shanghai so quickly for such a low price is because, although I was technically living in Shanghai, I was waaaaay out in the middle of nowhere (it took me about an hour and a half to get to the hustling bustling center of Shanghai). I am sure that, in the heart of Shanghai, finding housing might be much more frustrating. However, many internships can be very accommodating; some will provide housing for their interns!

     Although I did not plan on staying in that location for very long (only about 5 or 6 months), I still wanted to make my little apartment mine and furnish it with a few things here and there! Luckily, there was an Ikea relatively close to my house (about an hour or so) with a ton of cheap organizing tools to make my little apartment feel more homey. 

     As for moving my stuff from Nanjing to Shanghai, I played the safe route and took a few trips back and forth to transfer my stuff. Luckily, I had my friend Melissa to help me (we also toured around Shanghai and saw some very interesting sites, which I will share in a future blogpost). On the other hand, some people I know preferred to use 快递, a delivery service, to ship their stuff. I chose not to because I have heard tales of people losing their stuff in the mail!

     Thanks for reading! Please feel free to ask any questions or make comments! In my next post, I will be discussing my Taiwan Trip during the Spring Festival. 

    

Things I Will Miss About Nanjing!

     During my time in Nanjing, I struggled a lot, but it was getting out and exploring new places with my friends that really made my time in Nanjing worthwhile. Thus, here is a list of my favorite places in Nanjing!

Alison and I taking pics at
the park!

Cathrine Park: Cathrine Park is a small shopping complex (mostly underground) with a small garden! It's a great place to kill some time in the evenings or get a bite to eat (hot pot anyone?). There are also a few bars and a club in that area (Miu) if that tickles your fancy! If not, however, the litchi mall is right across the street with some more cool little stores to check out.

Amy and I hugging the Line Friends Bear
in all of its holiday glory!

Line Friends Park: Line Friends Park is located within Cathrine Park. It's pretty much an overpriced cafe with a ton of cute little Korean mascots (the Line Friends!) that are a ton of fun to take pictures with! They also have some Line Friends themed merchandise for sale (even though it's overpriced, I shelled out for a cute little fanny pack!

Boat Ride!

Don't quit your day job, bud. 

Confucian Temple/夫子庙：The Confucian Temple has everything: street food, cute shops, a museum, boat tours, street performers, rickshaws, and a temple, of course! There are also a ton of small parks and shopping centers nearby, so it's hard to be bored in this area!

Me and Iron Man

Aqua City Mall/水游城: After roaming around the Confucian Temple, I always ended up at the Aqua City Mall! Because of the decor and the water shows, I would say that Aqua City is probably my favorite mall in Nanjing! Besides that, it's pretty much like any normal mall, with cute stores and great restaurants (there's a Beijing Style hot pot place on the 4th floor that's amazing!). Another reason I hang out in this area so much is because there's a nice big grocery store (across the street I think?) full of specialty food items.

Xuan Wu Lake/玄武湖：Xuan Wu lake is a great place to take a walk with friends (or even ride a paddle boat) when the smog isn't so bad. There's a lot to see here! There are a few gardens, and a lot of beautiful statues. Also, the views from the lake are incredible; the skyline is
quite impressive, and you can even see the tallest building in Nanjing from here, the Purple Peak (紫峰).  There are also a few children's playgrounds, and a few small places to get snacks and milk tea (mostly around the entrance of the park).

     Even though it's hard to enjoy these aspects of the lake at night, Xuan Wu lake is still quite the hub after dark! Many older people congregate here at night to  exercise, fly kites, or sing karaoke!

The view of the Purple Peak
from Xuan Wu lake

                                             
The Purple Peak/紫峰：As mentioned before, the Purple Peak is the tallest building in Nanjing, and is actually also one of the tallest buildings in the world! There are two portions to this building, the first being a small mall (it's only 4 floors!). There are a few restaurants and a few small shops, but the real attraction is in the second portion of the building; a very fancy hotel. Sometimes, my friends and I would slip into the elevator to the hotel restaurant to check out the views of Nanjing.

Xinjiekou/新街口：Xinjiekou is a district with a lot of malls, places to eat and things to see! Outside of Deji, probably the biggest mall in Xinjiekou, there's always something going on! For example, in the winter, there was a giant interactive pyramid outside the mall (pictured below). A few months later, during the World Cup, a big projector and small soccer field took the pyramid's place to host watch parties and other events.
     My favorite mall in Xinjiekou, Fashion Lady, is full of cute (and strange) sculptures, in addition to a lot of cheap clothing! Fashion Lady (and Xinjiekou in general) is a great

Melissa and some spider men
hanging outside of Fashion Lady

The pyramid!

place to hang out when it's cold outside; all the main attractions are located in malls, and it gets so cold in Nanjing in the winter (one of my teachers described winters in Nanjing as "bone chilling")!

As always, feel free to add any comments or questions, and thank you for reading!