Is it normally this expensive to rent in China?

Paying up-front on a new rental in China is pretty standard and whilst the prices vary heavily from city to city, the price you quote is actually pretty standard for the city I live in (Shenyang). In fact, a friend of mine rented a place just last month that was just within that limit.

There are still a lot of cash transactions in China and on more than one occasion I have carried around more than that, mainly when making big purchases. Just keep the money somewhere safe on your person and keep your wits about you.

So yes, the cash up-front payment is pretty standard, both for locals and foreigners. I don;t know if you'd class that as expensive, it is certainly a lot cheaper than I would expect to pay back home for an equivalent property and in the big cities (Beijing, Shanghai etc) it would be a lot more.

I would think it depends on the condition and the location of the apartment. You should be able to find cheaper if you look and you're willing to travel a bit. Are they giving you a choice? I would just stay in the apartment that they chose for you for a month or two, then go there and look for another place. Or if a contract must be signed, then I would skip it entirely and look for temporary accommodation instead.

I personally think that 4 months rent in advance is taking advantage of the tenant. One months rent in advance plus a one month deposit sounds more reasonable to me.

Edit. I rented in Japan, and I was never asked to pay more than one month in advance + one month deposit. So people telling you it's normal in Asia, it's not. I also rented elsewhere in the world, and I was never asked to pay such an advance. It may be normal in China because I've heard about it before, and that's a really bad sign. It means either problems with getting prompt payments from tenants (ie, cheating tenants) or the rich taking advantage of those with lesser means (ie, cheating landlords).

find a cheaper and smaller apartment further away from the city, 2k-3k is not expensive in a city and it is normal to ask for 3 months advance + 1 month current upfront in most area of Asia, you'll be surprise that a lot of people carrying big stacks of 100 RMB around in their jacket/handbags in China, it is the second biggest economy in world you know

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