After a hectic flight last night from Hong Kong, where I spent a week, I have finally arrived in Beijing and met up with my coursemates Freddie, Charly and Lucy at Heyuan Hostel, where we intend to look for a four-person flat.

Despite the hostel's striking Qing-Dynasty architecture it was almost impossible to find. An impatient taxi-driver told me it was "in the Hutong," pointing at a modern driveway, before giving me too little change and driving off, leaving me dragging my two suitcases on the narrow pavement amongst throngs of Beijingers eating street food.

This morning, after eating a Chinese-style "full-English breakfast" (I wouldn't recommend it) we met up with a woman whose name was apparently "Rainbow," whom Freddie had been emailing about apartments.

One of the flats was unexpectedly inhabited by a bunch of Oxford students, who told us that if we wanted their flat, we would only be able to move in on the first of September (the day before the start of term in Beijing University). Although Freddie and I are not keen to spend more time in our four-person hostel room which we share with two strangers (the smell and state of the toilets are particularly unappealing), we don't want to rush into a decision regarding the apartments, especially since the Oxford one is one of the best we looked at (the other being two two-person flats).

For dinner, we went to a Beijing barbecue where Freddie made an absolute fool of himself when he asked in Chinese "Can we put these two tables together?" Whilst trying to say this basic phrase, Freddie mixed up the Chinese word 'zhuozi' ( meaning 'table') with 'Zhuangzi' (a Daoist philosopher). Fortunately the waiter was polite and worked out what he was trying to say. This story really goes to show that Freddie needs to get a grip and work harder on improving his Chinese.