Hello Trusty China Hands,
My son is a Stanford student who will be interning in Shanghai for 2 months this summer. He speaks Mandarin and has spent 3 summers in China. We are urgently searching for housing. Online shares are very tricky and full of scams, and serviced apartments too expensive (min $100/nt). He can afford about $1000-1300 a month. He would like Xintiandi area, on metro 2 or 10 and is working near metro stop Lujiazui. Any ideas are welcome. Thanks! A Worried Mom

Wherever he is interning should help him with housing.

Yes they should but they aren't, so far.

$1,000 in the Xintiandi area is a tall order. Hard to rent for 2 months. Have you looked at AirBnB?

Yes. Very sketchy. Their calendars are not up to date, so you have to contact each one and then find out they are not available....plus, many have no reviews, or a single vague one. "Near" a metro stop turns out to be a 15 minute walk. Lots of scammers. Sigh. If he were getting an expat salary wouldn't be a problem.

A 15 minute walk is near the subway in my opinion.

OK, good to know. I guess it depends on how many major streets have to be crossed. thanks. But the real issue is no short term options are available until you go over $100 a night, triple the student budget.

The solution is pretty obvious. If one is on a student budget then you stay where the students stay, not where foreigners with fat expat packages stay. It means suffering and having a long commute. In a big international city like Shanghai, if you want a central and convenient location then expect to pay up. Pretty simple principle very much the same in similar cities all over the world. The same principle would apply in Manhattan. There is no free lunch.

Failing help from the sponsoring organization, I suggest he see what he can work out with Airbnb hosts. Plan to go at least a week early, book a couple of days each with 2 or 3 hosts and see if any will do once he's there. Then work with the host to book at a more affordable rate for the time he requires (on the Airbnb site it's called "a special offer" and can be booked on the website). If none are suitable, he'll be there, on the ground, always the best way to find a place when on a budget.

Why can't he just go to S'hai, find a cheap hotel near the work site, check the bulletin boards/ask around etc and go from there? Why the need to fix this in advance? Esp since he is of a good age and speaks mandarin.

Give him some credit, MOM, to make his own choices/mistakes. Will serve him well down the road.

You may want to try looking at Sabbaticalhomes.com site. Type in city. I found one condo with description. My son used this site when he studied in paris. Also, stanford's international study abroad program office may have some suggestions for your son if he has not tried already. Good luck..... I know how you feel.......once a mom, always a mom.....

Interesting website but the only Shanghai listing is double the OP's budget with a 3-month minimum.

CanadaChinaTraveller: If you click on the rental and go to links for the rental, everything is negotiable for the owner (dates, rent, etc). This is a legitimate and well used site. A lot of owners are ex-pats or professors on sabbaticals themselves. Merely a suggestion to pursue...

Agree that it is an interesting resource. But there are no bargains to be found in this part of town.

Thanks everyone. We were able to find a reasonably affordable apartment in the French Concession on airbnb, and it doesn't involve roommates. It's only 5 metro stops from the office. We wanted to get housing settled in advance because once the internship starts there won't be a lot of time to deal with it. Now my son can concentrate on the reason he will be in Shanghai. He has stayed with host families 3 times, so was hoping for an independent experience this time around. I appreciate the advice!

Great! Good luck to your son.

Good for him. Make sure that this AirBnB owner helps him with his registration with the PSB (police). The company where he is interning should help him with his work visa but only the landlord can assist for the registration.