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Hello! I am a doctoral student coming to Chengdu in a few days to do research for 6 months at the Southwest University for Nationalities. I am looking for temporary housing that is convenient and comfortable–furnished, etc.
I am looking at the Somerset Serviced Apartments, with whom I have been able to negotiate a rate which seems fairly decent for a western-style, luxury apartment. They tell me lots of foreigners live there for lengthy periods of time–does anyone have any experience with these apartments? Is the internet speed OK? Security? Location? Any insights would be great!
-N
Yeah, they should be pretty good, it’s an international brand. I’ve only stayed at the one in Shenzhen, not Chengdu but I don’t think it would be much worse here. Security won’t be anything to worry about, location is great, no idea about the internet, but I’d say if you stay in a good hotel in China and you’re having internet trouble it usually isn’t the hotels fault 😉 You might want to get a VPN before you come over.
Out of curiosity, may I ask what rate they offered you? Basically you’ll be paying hotel prices staying at Somerset. You could also stay in a hotel for the first few days until you find an apartment to rent. It’s easy to find fully furnished apartments here in Chengdu. Would be cheaper.
Somerset is one of the most popular residences for the expat community in Chengdu. You can’t go wrong there I guess. You can get something furnished much cheaper if you take your time to search for it, but it will not be ‘serviced’ as the Somerset is (meaning they will also clean it and provide breakfast).
Thanks, Kim and Muell!
I decided to just go ahead and go with the Somerset apartment simply for ease of figuring my housing out and being able to just hit the ground running on my research! I was able to negotiate them to 6,000 yuan a month, which is significantly more than most other places, but will include use of their fitness facilities, etc. At this point, I valued ease of moving in and getting started over preserving research funds–I was supposed to be in Chengdu for a year, but as a graduate student in Tibetan religion, the only visa I could get was a 180-day visa.
Fraser Suites I’ve heard many times are the best service apartments in the city. Though probably much more pricy than Somerset, which is also highly rated.
Tibetan religion? As in twirling a spool or pacing around a stupa 10,000 times to erase your evils in able to commit evil again? How can that require graduate study? I think a couple months (weeks) in Tibet would suffice.
Tibetan religion doesn’t seem simple to me at all…. and by the way, the smaller the subject seems, the bigger the questions can be, Goatboy, no need to look down on anybody’s research.
Kim,
certainly nothing wrong with Tibetan religion by which, I assume, is meant Tibetan Buddhism.
The surprising thing is more the ‘Tibetan religion graduate’ lust for luxury and comfort 🙂 (not exactly in line with this religion teaching, ways and goals 🙂 ).
Natasha,
Somerset is OK but not really luxurious and certainly expensive.
You do not need to care much about their gym for free because you can by one year entry card to much better gym for about 2,000-2,500 CNY.
Even with the real estate agent fee you will be much better off if you rent a furnished apartment – and if any cleaning needed so the going price is 30 CNY/hour.
But of course the choice is yours.
Somerset is more than luxurious enough for her purposes.
A graduate student does not have to practice their subject of study to be able to study it. You don’t have to be Chinese to study Mandarin. You don’t have to be a buddhist to study a topic in Tibetan religion.
And do you have any idea about how wealthy some buddhist monks are? Nothing poor about them.
Kim,
Luxury is very relative term.
I did not want to criticize Somerset. I was just trying to point out that by going for Somerset you actually get, in comparison with renting a decent furnished apartment, lower value for higher price – nothing else.
But nothing wrong with choosing Somerset … (even though I assume the concept is more aiming at shorter terms stays rather than half an year one).
What concerns of religion so one does not have to believe in it in order to study it. But it’s reasonable to expect either necessity of some sort or the personal attraction behind the motivation to do so.
What concerns of Buddhist monks searching for luxury so it’s absolutely fine with me but they are most probably not exactly following the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama and if he was correct so there is still quite a long way of many lives in front of them 🙂
Thanks for the feedback, everyone! I ended up going with the Somerset apartment mostly because of the convenience of arranging it all before I came here. If I were staying longer than 5-6 months, I would look for an apartment, but I needed to hit the ground running–maybe not the best decision, but the decision I needed to make when my other housing fell through 5 days before my arrival.
I would love to talk about the path that led me to studying Tibetan Buddhism, Miro–it’s a long and complicated story, but we all just sort of end up doing what we do, often without realizing it. Don’t worry, I have paid my living “unluxuriously” in China dues on my previous research / study trips!
The teachings of Buddhism as it is practiced now is often quite different from the teachings of the historical Buddha. Siddhartha Guatama is actually not really the most important “buddha” for most strands of Tibetan Buddhism! Merely one of millions! I would love to discuss more over beers or noodles or some such.
haha goatboy, i suspect you are just trolling here. having knowledge about serviced housing here in chengdu and showing no respect for an old religion followed by millions and one that certainly binds an oppressed population together… i could guess 2 things… no 3…
1. you were making a joke
2.you are an atheist on a mission
3.you are a severe christian
(you were making a joke, right?)
Natasha,
Pls do not get me wrong – I have nothing against people who prefer ‘luxury’!
I was just saying that from my perspective 5-6 months would already justify renting an apartment. But if you like your selection (which by the way I do not find bad at all!) so it’s absolutely OK – at the end it’s about you living at this place and not us 🙂
What concerns of Buddhism so I am everything but expert – especially Tibetan Buddhism and honestly really do not know – and I am also one of the few weird foreigners who were never attracted to go to Tibet …
But we can definitely discuss it sometimes over the cup of tea or anything else what flows … 🙂
I agree with Miro that renting a furnished apartment near the University itself is far preferable to a luxury service apartment.
@Kim and Hise – My comment on Tibetan Religion (which truly should be specified – thanks Miro – between their ancient religion, and the Buddhism which we find there today) was a bit trollish, but also tongue-in-cheek like most comments I make on this site. The proper thing to do was for me to start a new thread on the subject of Tibetan Buddhism; however, I don’t think I have the interest to contribute nor battle the Tibetan camp of pseudo-religious profiteers. Kim, you are definitely right about the wealth of such “monks”. Going to Seda was one of the most depressing trips I’ve taken in a long time. And yes, I’ve been to Beijing.
Miro–let me know when and where! I would love to grab a beer. I am trying to make friends to keep my sanity while I am here!
Goatboy – Is Seda the Chinese name for Serta Monastery? I have always really wanted to go out there as the founder has deep connections to the epic literature I am studying!
I’m not entirely sure how to respond to your comments, so have been silent on them. It seems that you were looking for something in Buddhism, which is fine–many people are doing the same thing and some people find what they were looking for and some do not. In my work, I do not proceed like that. I am a historian who is interested in how cultures, societies, and individuals use ideas to construct their realities, enact/create social power, and form personal identities. My research looks at the buddhicization of oral epic literature in Tibet and its relationship to social and cultural identities. I am also interested in hell realms within Buddhism (which feature prominently in particular episode of the Tibetan epic I am currently translating). These things have very little to do with any historical founder of Buddhism and what he may or may not have said (based on records recorded centuries after his death). What they do have to do with is how people construct significance and make their own lives meaningful.
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