Under the background of the “Belt and Road” initiative and the internationalization of education, the number of international students coming to China continues to grow, and their quality of life in China is increasingly concerned. As a key factor for international students to adapt to a new cultural environment, their housing preferences and behaviors reflect important features of cross-cultural adaptation and life satisfaction. In this study, 16 international students of different nationalities coming to China from School J in Province S were interviewed and questionnaire surveyed to explore their housing preferences and choice behaviors. The results showed that 55% of the international students preferred to rent the university village, showing strong residential autonomy; nearly 80% of the international students had a monthly consumption level higher than 1,500 yuan, which was higher than the average level of Chinese university students; 32% were at the medium integration level, and 35% were at the higher integration level, showing better cultural adaptability; and the sense of belonging satisfaction was the highest among the international students from East Asian backgrounds, with an average score of 0.94, which indicating that cultural background has a significant effect on residence satisfaction. It is concluded that international students in China are characterized by strong autonomy, high consumption ability, and obvious differences in the degree of cultural adaptation in the process of choosing housing, and their housing choices are affected by multiple cultural factors, so it is necessary to optimize international students’ housing services in colleges and universities by combining the theories of culture shock and culture acquisition.
