My grandparents have been asking what it is like in my apartment, so this is dedicated to them…The apartment is being sub-let to the school by an old lady who had to leave Liaocheng for a year.She left a lot of things behind but I'm not allowed to use most of it.

As you walk through the yard, my building is number 35.You have to walk through some doors to get to the stairway and then climb five flights of stairs.There are two apartments on each floor.My front door is decorated with bright red and gold banners from some Chinese festival, they were here when I moved in and most apartments have them so I haven't taken them down.

Once through the front door, you are immediately in the living room.You can feel some heat from the under-floor heating but it's not much.The entire apartment has white tiled floor and white walls and all the windows have white curtains.Every internal door is yellow and has a window above, so if one light is on in the apartment, every other room gets lit up too.The apartment is dusty; I try and try to keep it clean- but with Liaocheng being an industrial city, and my apartment being located next to a building site, there is constant dust in the air.There is no vacuum so I have to rely on sweeping or mopping.

The door on the right is for the kitchen.In the kitchen, worktops surround three of the walls.There is a deep white porcelain sink in the nearest corner and two gas burners with an extractor in the furthest corner.There is a small window directly opposite the door.There are no kitchen cupboards; there are just open shelves beneath the worktops.There is no oven, refrigerator or microwave.Everything I use in the kitchen I had to buy myself, there is an electric kettle which I bought, plus a few basic utensils, a saucepan and a wok.I also have some cute bowls with Chinese cartoons on them.

Back in the living room, this is in a vague L-shape.The smallest part of the L is where the bay window is.In this part of the room there is also a bed which was left behind by the owner of the apartment.It is not useable as she has also left huge bales of bedding on it.It's very unsightly so I rearranged the sofas to make the largest part of the L feel separate, by using the 3-seater sofa to block off the smaller part of the room.Other furniture includes a 2-seater sofa and an armchair, all in a very unappealing brown colour!There is a glass coffee table and a wooden desk (which I dragged here from the largest bedroom) and a TV with a DVD player which I have used very rarely.

Around the corner is the bathroom sink area (no door).There is a mirror and a light above the sink.On the left is a door to the toilet/wet room.There is a western style loo and a shower attachment above a drain in the corner, it is supposed to be solar-powered shower but it is faulty so only runs cold.There is a bucket and a plastic cup in here too- I use hot water from the kettle to fill the bucket and then wash by pouring water from the cup.It's inconvenient but still more pleasant than a freezing cold shower.There is also a mop in here; the floor becomes slippery after washing so has to be mopped immediately.

The largest bedroom is where Poppy currently sleeps.There is a single bed and no other furniture.At the far end of the room is the laundry area.There is a washing machine which is broken (that's why I have to use the kindergarten washing machine) and also some indoor washing lines.They are attached to a pulley system so the lines can be individually raised or lowered as required.

My bedroom is slightly smaller but I have a bay window overlooking the yard.The ledge is wide enough to sit and on a sunny day this can be the warmest part of the apartment!There is a fabric wardrobe but this has been stitched shut by the apartment owner.I have hung sticky hooks around the walls and bought coat hangers, and this is where I hang nicer clothes like my dresses. In the corner there is an old TV box which stands about waist high and I put my other things on here, including the rest of my clothes folded into plastic tubs.My bed is a large double bed, but it is incredibly uncomfortable.It is a typical Chinese bed with no mattress, just a wooden frame that is as solid as a table.I have padded it out with quilts but it is still not great to sleep on every night.

So that's my apartment, I don't think I'd make it as an estate agent based on this, what do you think?