Bills split, roommate fun, the kindness of friends and the potential for romance. The two-season drama iPartment (《爱情公寓》), set in Shanghai, has shown us how great it can be to live with others, especially members of the opposite sex. The drama, which tells the story of young men and women sharing two neighboring apartments, has become extremely popular, and is widely regarded as the Chinese version of Friends.
分摊的费用、合租的乐趣，朋友的友情，浪漫的爱情。已经播出两季的剧集《爱情公寓》以上海为背景，为我们展示了与他人一起生活是多么棒的一件事，尤其恰逢你的室友是异性时。该剧集讲述了一群租住在两间互邻公寓的年轻男女们身上发生的故事，该剧可谓人气爆棚之作，也被广泛称作为中国版的《老友记》。

But sadly, residents of real “love apartments” have seen a very different side to the story.
但很遗憾，那些生活在现实“爱情公寓”的人们经历着与剧集中不同的情节。

Low rent
低廉的房租

iPartment: The four-bedroom apartments located in central Shanghai are fully furnished and well decorated, with *spacious living rooms. What’s more, life seems easy: It appears that the apartments cost each resident less than 2,000 yuan per month. And among the residents are the jobless Ziqiao and Meijia.
在爱情公寓中，这间位于上海市中心的四居室公寓可谓是设施齐全，装修精良且客厅宽敞。不仅如此，那里的生活十分悠闲：似乎公寓中的每位成员每月的房租还不到2000元。公寓成员中更是有两位无业游民子乔和美嘉。

Huangfu Qijia, 24, technical engineer at Siemens China in Shanghai
而现实中，位于上海的西门子（中国）有限公司的一名技术工程师、24岁的皇甫启佳（音译）说：

I am sharing a two-bedroom, 60-square-meter apartment with a couple in Pudong District. The monthly rent for each bedroom is 2,250 yuan, which is one third of my salary. I have to work really hard and eat fast food for each meal. And I dare not even ask for any vacation time, as this would reduce my performance-related pay.
我同一对恋人一起合租一套位于浦东区的60平米两居室。每间卧室的月租为2250元，相当于我工资的三分之一。我必须要努力工作，而且每顿只能吃快餐。我甚至都不敢请假休息，因为这样会减少我的绩效工资。

Funny roomates
有趣搞笑的室友

iPartment: They have so many fun roommates in iPartment. There’s Sekiya, a Japanese animator whose awkward Chinese causes amusement; there’s Youyou, an *extra who is always *upbeat about her unsuccessful acting career; and there’s Ziqiao, a lady’s man who is only good at *flirting.
在剧中，“爱情公寓”中住着很多有趣的人。有日本漫画家关谷神奇，他糟糕的中文常常将观众逗乐。龙套演员悠悠，虽演艺事业不顺，却总是保持一种乐观向上的态度；子乔是一个喜欢向女人献殷勤的男人，长处只剩下善于调情了。

Wei Qiuming, 25, a tour guide in Beijing.
而现实中，来自北京的导游、25岁的魏秋明（音译）说：

My roommates are all regular people, including a clothes shop owner, a computer programmer, and a supermarket manager. The shop owner is female and the other two are male.　Most of the time, we just complain to each other about tough bosses, unfriendly co-workers, and sometimes, bad clients. We don’t have much fun time together.
我的室友都是些普通人，有服装店老板，电脑程序员，超市经理。除了开服饰店的是位女士外，其余两位都是男的。大多数时候，我们只是相互抱怨各自苛刻的老板，冷漠的同事，有时也会说说那些糟糕的客户。我们并没有太多一起欢乐的时光。