Shuangjing Subdistrict: Guide to Living Here

Shuangjing (双井 in Chinese, Shuāng jǐng in Pinyin) is the residential overflow region for Beijing's crowded Central Business District in Chaoyang. Shuangjing is a subdistrict, and has been rapidly developed as modern apartment buildings have risen to dot the horizon and crowd the skyline.

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You'll find plenty of conveniently located, expatriate-friendly housing in Shuangjing, and more and more foreign restaurants, grocery stores, cafés, bars, and other amenities springing up all over, particularly around Shuangjing subway station.

Expatriates who choose Shuangjing as their home in Beijing choose it for:

Its proximity to downtown and the CBD
A less hustle-and-bustle feel than the more crowded downtown
Less expensive rents than are available in the CBD
Plenty of Western-style housing, restaurants, shopping, and more

Shuangjing is a more common area to settle for singles living in Beijing than it is for families, who generally prefer to put down roots in Shunyi or Lido.

Living Arrangements

Expatriates living in Shuangjing typically live in one of its many modern apartment complexes. The majority of apartment buildings in Shuangjing have been constructed within the past 10 years; some of them, far more recently. Shuangjing has been a boomtown of residential development, and apartment buildings here fill up as quickly as they can be built.

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Apartment complexes here are gated communities, and many offer:

Central, government-mandated parks and green space
Exercise facilities and fitness gyms
Convenience stores and shops
Guardhouses with regular patrols

Price per month on Shuangjing apartments can range anywhere from ¥4,500 for a studio apartment to ¥15,000+ for a multi-floor loft. You can expect to pay ¥5,500 to ¥9,000 per month for a standard one- or two-bedroom apartment in Shuangjing.

Local Amenities

Shuangjing offers a number of amenities for Westerners, such as:

Western supermarkets, including BHG, CenturyMart, and Carrefour
Western restaurants, ranging from Mexican to American to Italian food and more, and including fast food restaurants like McDonald's and KFC and pizza chain like Pizza Hut
Cafés (like Pinyite, The Place, Costa Coffee, and Unconditional Love Coffee) and small Westerner-run and Westerner-oriented bars (like Grinders and The Brick)

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All manner of shops and stores, including electronics stores, convenience stores, fruit vendors, and pharmacies
Viva, a shopping mall with many Western clothing stores, dining options, and the Western-style UME movie theater, displaying both Chinese and Western cinema
Numerous art galleries and exhibition halls, particularly in the Ping Guo art gallery area

Shuangjing's primary features are its proximity to downtown and the CBD, and its smattering of restaurants, cafés, and small bars catering to Westerners. As it's mainly a residential area, it lacks any of the big draws of some other areas, aside from the Viva mall.

Education

Though home to far more singles than it is families, Shuangjing still boasts a small sampling of Westerner-serving schools:

Beijing City International School (BCIS) - nursery through Grade 12 (Year 13)
American International Academy of Beijing (AIAB) - a Montessori kindergarten
KEer Apple International Kindergarten - kindergarten in Ping Guo (Pingod)

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In addition to these, Shuangjing is a short trip away from many of the other nearby schools throughout Chaoyang.

Main article: International Schools in Beijing: The School Guide

Location

Located in the southern portion of Chaoyang District, Shuangjing Subdistrict is close to the heart of the Beijing downtown and Central Business District, readily accessible by subway or taxi. Most parts not directly adjacent to 3rd Ring Road tend not to be overly noisy, and the CBD is within walking distance of most parts of Shuangjing (15 to 30 minutes' walk).

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Shuangjing Subway Station is on Line 10, located just between the Guomao (CBD) and Jinsong subway stops.

Verdict

Shuangjing isn't the kind of super family-friendly environment that Lido or, even more so, Shunyi are. Nor is it the penultimate singles lifestyle haven that Sanlitun is, or the perfect place for the Western businessman to hang his hat if his goal is minimizing his commute to the utmost. Instead, rather, it's a happy medium of nice Western apartments, decent amounts of Western amenities and dining options, and fairly reasonable prices for the above.

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If you're bringing a family with you to Beijing, you'll probably want Shunyi or Lido, and if you'll be working 24/7 for a Western multinational you'll want the CBD (or wherever your office is located). If you're in Beijing to eat, shop, and party, on the other hand, Sanlitun is hands down your #1 choice.

However, if you want a decent place with a decent commute with decent amounts of amenities nearby where you won't be paying out the nose for rent, you won't go wrong with setting up shop in Shuangjing.

Ready to find an apartment in Shuangjing? You can head here to start now: