hézū: 合租 - To Rent Together, To Share an Apartment

Keywords: hezu, 合租, share apartment in China, rent with roommates in China, flatshare China, Chinese for roommate, find housing in China, 找合租, zhao hezu, housing in China for foreigners, living in China.

Summary: 合租 (hézū) means to rent a place together or share an apartment in China. It is the most common way for students, young professionals, and expats to live affordably in major Chinese cities. This guide explains what 合租 involves, how to find roommates (室友), the cultural nuances of flatsharing, and provides essential vocabulary for finding housing. Understanding 合租 is crucial for anyone planning to live and rent in China.

Pinyin (with tone marks): hézū

Part of Speech: Verb

HSK Level: HSK 4

Concise Definition: To jointly rent a property with one or more other people.

In a Nutshell: 合租 is the standard Chinese term for “renting with roommates.” It's a compound verb combining 'to combine' (合) and 'to rent' (租), literally meaning “to co-rent.” It's an extremely common practice, especially for young people in expensive cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, where living alone is often financially impossible. The term describes the action and the living arrangement itself.

合 (hé): This character means “to combine,” “to join,” or “together.” The ancient form depicts a lid (亼) fitting over a container or mouth (口), symbolizing things coming together in agreement or union.

租 (zū): This character means “to rent” or “to lease.” The left side is the “grain” radical (禾), which historically represented payment for land (often in the form of crops). The right side (且) provides the pronunciation.

Together, 合租 (hézū) literally means “combine-rent,” a perfectly logical and descriptive term for the act of multiple people joining forces to rent a home.

In modern China, 合租 is more than just a housing choice; it's an economic necessity and a rite of passage for urban youth. The sky-high property prices in Tier 1 cities have given rise to what's sometimes called the “蚁族” (yǐzú) or “ant tribe”—vast communities of recent graduates and young workers living in crowded, shared conditions on the outskirts of cities as they strive for a better future.

Comparison to Western “Roommates”: While having roommates is common in the West, especially for students, the dynamic can be different. In the US or Europe, friends might decide to find a house together to create a shared social life. In China, 合租 is often more pragmatic and less about social bonding. It's very common to rent a single room in an apartment and share common spaces with complete strangers, with each person having a separate agreement with the landlord or a rental agency. The primary motivation is almost always financial.

The “Subdivided Apartment” (隔断房 - géduànfáng): A unique aspect of the 合租 culture is the prevalence of subdivided apartments. Landlords or agencies will often put up temporary walls in a living room or a large bedroom to create extra, smaller rooms to maximize rental income. While often technically illegal, this practice is widespread and means that a “three-bedroom apartment” might actually house five or six different tenants.

合租 is a term you'll encounter constantly when looking for housing, both online and in conversation.

Finding a Place: People use real estate apps like 链家 (Liànjiā) and 自如 (Zìrú), which have specific filters for 合租 rooms. You'll also see posts in WeChat groups or on the social platform 豆瓣 (Dòubàn) with titles like “找人合租” (zhǎo rén hézū - looking for someone to share a flat with).

Describing Your Living Situation: It's used as a verb to describe your life. For example: “我跟两个朋友合租一个三居室。” (Wǒ gēn liǎng ge péngyou hézū yí ge sān jūshì - I share a three-bedroom apartment with two friends.)

Connotation: The term is neutral and practical. It doesn't carry a negative stigma; it's simply a fact of life for a huge portion of the urban population.

合租 vs. 转租 (zhuǎnzū): These are not the same. 合租 (hézū) is when multiple tenants rent directly from the landlord or agency. 转租 (zhuǎnzū) is “to sublet,” where an existing tenant rents out their room (or the whole apartment) to a new person. If you are subletting from a tenant, you are dealing with a 转租 situation.

Specificity: 合租 is almost exclusively used for residential housing. While you could technically say 合租办公室 (hézū bàngōngshì - to share an office), it's more common to use other terms like 共享办公 (gòngxiǎng bàngōng - co-working).

室友 (shìyǒu) - Roommate; flatmate. The person you 合租 with.

整租 (zhěngzū) - To rent an entire apartment or house. The direct opposite of 合租.

房东 (fángdōng) - Landlord; the owner of the property.

房租 (fángzū) - Rent (the money). Not to be confused with 租 (zū), the verb “to rent”.

押金 (yājīn) - Security deposit. You'll almost always need to pay this.

中介 (zhōngjiè) - Agent; agency. A real estate agent who helps you find a place, often for a fee.

转租 (zhuǎnzū) - To sublet. Renting from a tenant instead of the landlord.

隔断房 (géduànfáng) - A subdivided apartment. An apartment where non-bedroom spaces (like a living room) have been partitioned to create more bedrooms.

押一付三 (yā yī fù sān) - A very common rent payment structure: “one month's deposit, three months' rent paid in advance.” (Literally: deposit one, pay three).

水电费 (shuǐdiànfèi) - Utilities bill (water and electricity fees). An important cost to clarify when you 合租.