Utilities for an Apartment in Beijing

When you get into your Beijing apartment, you become responsible for the usual housing utilities like water, gas, and electricity. Moreover, you have to set connections and pay for your phone and the internet. 

Here we will discuss on what utilities you got in Beijing apartment and how much common housing utilities cost. 

Water, Gas, Electricity:

Just like many other things in China, utilities are commonly worked on a pre-paid system. You don’t have to sign any monthly contract on it. You will use a rechargeable card to work on a utility meter. The card chip is inserted into the meter, which draws the money from the card into the meter. The meter will make money drawing sound and then displays the new status. When the remaining charge on the card is getting low, the meter will start blinking to alert you. 

If you have a custodian outside your apartment, you can get the help of custodians to recharge your cards. It would be really helpful for you. But if there is no custodian, you have to recharge your cards from banks, Utilities Company, and some other whereabouts. But you can’t recharge all your cards from one location. 

Banks also have bill pay machines just like the ATM, from where you can revive your utility cards, only if you have a bank card there. For example, I recharged my electricity card from ICBC bank, but I can’t recharge my gas card from there.

In China, electricity bills are usually paid by utility cards, while gas bills can be paid by monthly bills or cards. It is depending on your flat complex. The utility bills are usually tape-recorded to your door. You can pay them at a bill pay machine at some specific banks. The machine menu is in Chinese but there are employees in banks who are always able to help you.

Several Beijing flats are provided the domestic water supply for the toilet. The domestic water supply in your apartment is paid with a utility card that can be topped recorded at the property management office. 

When you signing up for an apartment, make sure to have all the utility cards and find the meters. Use your cards carefully and don’t lose them, they are a bother to change. 

Heating and other Housing costs:

The space heating facility is generally included in the flat lease. The heating time is considered by the management and extents from mid- November to mid-march with the defined dates set each year. In fact, winter does not always hold onto the calendar. It possibly gets cold earlier and later than determining heating dates, thus other heating sources are essential. Many Beijing apartments have AC units that also provide heat. Before sign up the lease contract, check the extra heating source in your apartment. 

However, you don’t have to pay for trash removal, the lighting of common areas, cleaning, elevator maintenance, etc. All these kinds of stuff are covered by a separate bill that is often paid by the landlord. TV is common in a rental apartment that is also provided by the owner. 

Phone and Internet:

This is one of the most expensive utility items and has a large variety, depending on the phone talk time, internet speed, etc. Land-line phone, internet, and mobile can be bundled. These utilities are commonly provided by China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom. Their data plans are provided in English, you can find them online. 

To get a data plan, you have to visit a local office. You may have to wait for a long time there. It is not likely that the office employees speak English, so it is better to go with a friend who can speak Chinese. However, China Unicom has an English service that is very helpful for foreigners. If you don’t have a Chinese friend, you can call to English language line when you are at the local office, and tell them what you want. 

Keep in mind that phone and internet services are pre-paid in China, so you don’t have to pay monthly bills. To recharge your phone account, you have to go to the phone company office or get a recharge card from any newspaper stand and get your phone recharged with card code. You can also pay online. Just as many other services, you can get a big discount. Rather than recharge month by month, if you recharge for a longer time you will be able to avail a lower monthly cost.