A surprise rule by China requires Chinese college students overseas to learn in-person if they want their education to recognized back home.
中国突然要求海外的中国留学生必须就读面授课程，否则他们的教育经历在国内无法得到认证。
The rule has caused a housing rush for students. At the same time, housing markets worldwide are seeing rising rent prices.
这条规定导致了学生们的住房热潮。与此同时，全球房地产市场的租金也在上涨。
Zoey Zhang is a student from China who will be attending a top Australian university. She is enrolled in a master's program in marketing at the University of New South Wales.
张·佐伊是一名即将就读澳洲名校的中国学生。她将就读新南威尔斯大学的市场营销硕士课程。
She said finding housing in Australia has been extremely difficult. It has been so hard that she has considered sleeping "on the streets."
她表示，在澳洲找住房太难了。难到她甚至考虑睡大街了。
About 700,000 students from China who are enrolled to study overseas have been left in a difficult position. But the crisis is more urgent in Australia. That is because its school year starts in February. In many other parts of the world, including North America and Europe, the school year starts in September.
大约有70万名海外留学的中国学生处境艰难。但是这场危机在澳洲尤为紧迫。这是因为澳洲的学年是从2月份开始。在全球包括北美和欧洲在内的其它地区，学年是从9月开始。
Zhang said she panicked after the rule change. After three years of COVID-19 border closures, she and about 40,000 other Chinese students also going to Australia will be looking for a place to stay.
张同学表示，规定改变后她感到恐慌。在经历了三年新冠疫情边境关闭之后，她和大约4万名同样前往澳大利亚的中国学生将要寻找住宿。
"I knew that finding a rental in Australia won't be easy, but I didn't expect it to be this difficult. Some are subletting their living rooms or balconies. I don't think I can do that," Zhang said from her home in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong.
张同学在中国东部省份的山东老家表示：“我知道在澳洲租房并不容易，但是没想到会这么难。有些人在转租自己的客厅或阳台。我认为我做不到那样。”
The University of New South Wales said campus housing is now full. It said it was in the process of fixing up university apartments to rent to foreign students.
新南威尔士大学表示，学校宿舍目前已满。该学校表示，学校正在修缮大学公寓准备租给外国学生。
A spokesperson for Sydney University said its 2,400 dormitory beds near campus were taken. The university said it had reserved another 700 beds with other providers and negotiated lower prices with hotels.
悉尼大学发言人表示，学校附近的2400张宿舍床位已满。该大学称其已经跟供应商另外预定了700张床位，并与酒店协商降低价格。
Observers say even those planning to wait another semester to start school may struggle to find a bed. Many building projects for foreign student housing were delayed during the pandemic. It takes at least four years to complete one of the buildings.
观察人士表示，即使是那些打算等一个学期再入学的学生也可能很难找到床位。疫情期间，许多留学生住房建设项目被推迟。这样一座建筑的完工时间至少需要4年。
Before 2020, Chinese students made up about 40 percent of the $27 billion that Australia earns each year educating foreigners. Those earnings dropped sharply because of COVID-related border restrictions.
在2020年之前，中国学生占到了澳洲每年270亿美元海外留学生收入的40%。这些收入因为新冠疫情相关的边境管控锐减。
But China's reopening is a "welcome sign" for investors, said Brad Williams. He is managing director of AMP Capital, Australia's third-largest owner of student housing properties.
但是布拉德·威廉姆斯表示，中国的重新开放对投资者来说是一个可喜的迹象。他是澳大利亚第三大学生公寓房东AMP资本的董事总经理。
Louis Liu is a Chinese student in Brisbane. She has started attending property viewings across the city. She films them for Chinese students who are still in mainland China. She said she films about two viewings each day and earns up to $27 for each one.
刘·路易斯是在布里斯班市的一名中国学生。她已经开始在全市看房子。她为仍在中国境内的中国学生拍摄房子照片。她说，她每天拍两条看房视频，每条视频的收入高达27美元。
Joe Du is a real estate agent in Sydney. He said he rented a one-bedroom apartment to the mother of a Chinese student for $710 per week. That is about 40 percent more than the next most costly one-bedroom apartment in the neighborhood. The unit rented for $365 a week in 2022.
杜·乔伊是悉尼的房地产经纪人。他称自己以每周710美元的价格将一套一居室公寓租给了一名中国学生的母亲。这比附近第二贵的一居室公寓高出了40%左右。2022年，这套公寓的租金为每周365美元。
"We told her there was no need to bid this high," Du said, "but she is genuinely concerned that her kid might not have a place to stay."
杜表示：“我们告诉她，没必要出那么高的价格，但是她真的很担心自己孩子可能没地方住。”
I'm Dan Novak.
我是丹·诺瓦克。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)