AFTER an exhaustive search I have finally signed the lease to an apartment. I am thrilled to have it. Its in a great compound in a great neighborhood in between all the new stuff and the old stuff in Beijing. I can walk to the subway in 5 minutes, I'm surrounded by restaurants and old hutongs (alleyways)full of character and life. There are gyms close by, a mall and just about everything you would ever really need. The apartment is actually quite big compared to most apartments in China and has a large living room, 2 bedrooms, a microwave with a hello kitty sticker on it and a tub in the bathroom! This is unusual for China. I move in on Thursday.