Recommended area to live
Hi there - a few of us are moving over from Europe so we need to be near English bilingual schools and nursery as well as French ones..can anyone tell me of any expat communes in Beijing that might be near to both?
thanks!
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Re: Recommended area to live
Chaoyang...
anywhere within a 20 minute drive of your embassy will have suitable schools, shopping, restaurants and western pricing. Prices for houses, rent, groceries, massage etc drop exponentially the further away you get from this district.
google is great, and pretty accurate these days.
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Re: Recommended area to live
Yes, Chaoyang district.
I recommend Chaoyang park area, and I know one apartment is great. I can send some photos if you are interested.
freda(underscore)alcock@hotmail.com
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Re: Recommended area to live
French School is right next to French Embassy in SanLiTun, SanLiTun (DongSanJie) Diplomat Compound locates right across to the embassy. And don't be scared away by the name, you don't need to be an diplomate to live in there, just pay the rent, it's a wonderful place to live, with most convent shopping malls, hotels, western resturants literately right next door. And there are also other international schools very close to that compound if you don't end up choosing the French School.
Toni Ma, Operation Director
True Run Media / theBeijinger * BeijingKids * Agenda
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Re: Recommended area to live
East Lake Villa's on Dongzhimen is a popular French Expat community to live in. Just a 10minute walk to the French School, close to everything and lots and lots of french kids on premisis. Very clean, well cared for, a tad bit older, but very reliable and only managed by one company and not individual landlords
Kind words are like Honey ~
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Re: Recommended area to live
oh, I have lots of French friends...and they mostly live in Julong gardens opposite French Cultural Center, also close to French school, or Park APartments which is in Chaoyang Park...many French families...I teach at all those places as well as at French School itself so I 've seen many many French speaking people there...hope that helps...
www.familyfunwithyuliya.com
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Re: Recommended area to live
If you want to live not too far from the French School (and indeed some other international school), the Dongzhimen Wai, Sanlitun area is probably the easiest choice, since you can just walk there.
The most popular compounds with the French families seem to be :
- Julong Garden and Guangcai Mansion (on Gongti Xilu)
- East Lake Villa and Seasons Park (on Dongzhimen Wai)
- Park Apartments, and the other compounds around Chaoyand Park
- Central Park (a little further away from the school area,
There are lots more options, naturally, and it really mainly depends on your budget and what is available when you get there!
It also depends on your kids age - these compounds all have playgrounds and play areas, so of course if you have teens, you might not be looking for that.
Note that of course, it's not only French families, it's a mix of international and local tenants.
2 points though :
- Be very careful when choosing an agent. The best is actually to have a few out for you. It sounds obvious but I've recently heard a few tales of greedy agents screwing up a deal or plainly scamming a family, so just be aware
- The French School will relocate in a few years further away from the center of Beijing - as of now, we don't know exactly when, but maybe keep that in mind and don't sign up a 3 or 4 years lease!
If you need help or advice, feel free to contact me!
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Re: Recommended area to live
By Chaoyang Park is good. You are close to the embassy area, including the new embassy area being developed by Chaoyang Lu. The park is nice and there are some good schools there too.
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