this place is just next to the forbidden city, beautifully renovated, the malaysian 华人 just moved out. they told me it was 320 sq m on the phone, with approximately half that as courtyard area, but i arrived to find a very small little yard, much more intimate, surrounded by nice big rooms. would be nice to live in! even has central heating/air conditioning… 21,000 RMB/month.

nice huge space, but er… would require some work. not entirely impossible, but probably not enough time/funds. also over 300 sq m. famous author used to live here, his books were scattered amidst the rubble. the building at the entrance had been converted to a sort of commercial space that now looked like it was temporarily housing a few migrant workers. DIY bed made of electric heaters! the ‘making-do’ is endlessly much more creative than i will ever be! …can’t remember the price, but cheaper, under 20,000 RMB/month.

further to the west, a former tea house. most of the rooms keep their original tiles, both the floor tiles and the roof tiles, which i love and hard to still find intact these days… making a tea house means “let’s maintain the chinese cultural spirit”, so most of the furnishings and decor are in old style, but ‘cute-ified’. kites, ping pong, ceramic trinkets… don’t ask me if they’re ‘real’. the courtyard is not huge but may just be big enough, although there’s a price to pay for chinese cultural spirit… 35,000 RMB/month