Our Shanghai Apartment

Well, we're back in Shanghai for the last two weeks of our trip. We leave this coming Thursday and head back to the states for our San Francisco adventure! I will really miss Shanghai but we plan on returning to live here for awhile within the next couple of years. Since we already have a place to stay, it will make moving here quite easy. Andi and her mother bought the place back in 2007. They rented it out for almost 4 years and then took it back and redid the entire place.

This is the living room with the front door on the right. Andi is always cleaning! :)

We have two balconies in the apartment; one for hanging and drying clothes and the other for the washing machine and storage. There are no drying machines in China. They prefer to do laundry every couple of days and hang it in the sun. All apartments in China are built in the same direction(south, southeast) so they can get the maximum amount of sun for drying clothes and light.

The living room with a closet on the left, second balcony straight ahead, and the entrance to both bedrooms and the bathroom on the right.

The tiny washing machine. They don't make huge one's like we have in the US since they do laundry more frequently and don't have the space. They also don't have laundry mats here either. Every apartment is equipped with the

capability for a washing machine.

The guest bedroom. Also where Andi's parents sleep when they come to Shanghai.

Our room.

The bathroom. There are no bathtubs in China unless your in a reasonably expensive hotel. They also don't have much in the way of keeping the water from going everywhere except for a very small lip(right where the towel is on the floor). Instead, there are two drains for the water; one on the inside of the

shower and the other on the outside.

The kitchen(the fridge is hidden on the left).

All apartments only have two burners and no stove unlike us in the US. They also have massive hood vents because cooking with a wok is usually done on very high heat and creates a good amount of smoke. The entrance to the kitchen also has a sliding plastic door so the smoke and smells from cooking don't go all over the house. What is very popular over here our induction burners. I plan on getting two when we return.

We live on the 6th floor which is the top floor of our apartment complex. It has a pretty good view all around. At night, you can see into other peoples places

"Rear Window" style!

On a side note, this will most likely be my last post from China. Since we are back in Shanghai, we have no Internet like before and have to rely on going to coffee shops or a friends place. I must say, I can't wait to have stable Internet connection again!