Randy W Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Just back from a site-seeing trip with my fiance to Beijing. We had a wonderful time . . .The new customs forms (July 1) ask if you are carrying any articles valued over RMB2000 that will be left behind, alcohol/tobacco over 1500 ml/400 cigs/500g, $5000 cash, animals, plants, ... radio transmitters, receivers, or communication security equipment, prohibited articles, unaccompanied baggage, or goods of commercial value such as samples/ advertisements.I am not sure what it would mean to not declare your unaccompanied baggage.PayPal ATM - it is free - no monthly or maintenance fees, no non-use fees. A RMB 600 transfer was charged at $73.44 after Bank of China fee. The additional PayPal fee for this transfer was only $1.00. And she found an ATM in Yulin Guangxi! No more Western Union for us!I bought a SIM card from China Mobile in the airport international arrivals area for my unlocked GSM "world" phone from the U.S. She was able to use it for a weeks worth of received and sent calls.Now, if GUZ would only hurry up with that P4! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeFisher3 Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 The customs form has the same basic requirements that have been in required in the past, before July 1 you only needed to complete the form if you had anything to declare. I think the Chinese have taken a page from the book of the US and found a way to employ more people by making us all fill out the form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 PayPal ATM - it is free - no monthly or maintenance fees, no non-use fees. A RMB 600 transfer was charged at $73.44 after Bank of China fee. The additional PayPal fee for this transfer was only $1.00. And she found an ATM in Yulin Guangxi! No more Western Union for us! I am glad that the PayPal issue has been proven by you in person. I have supported and commented many times on this here, over a year now.It is by far the easiest way for her or him to gain access to funds quickly and you still control the account and having the card in their name saves a lot of questions.. I knew it works ok just glad to hear from someone else about it..Best of luck to you and yours!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_dawei Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 I'm not so sure the issue was whether or not a Paypal ATM would work or not.. any ATM should in principle work, regardless of who it is under. The issue, I thought, was that an ATM is tied to a bank account. If that account is a US bank, there should be no issue at all. I always thought the Paypal issue was trying to get it to work with a chinese bank account. Where money transferred between transactions of buying and selling (ie: Ebay) and directly to a chinese bank.. where one could ultimately draw off using the ATM. So, it would be good to hear what was the bank, US or chinese?? and if paypal transactions flow into the chinese account ?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yongyuan Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 I sent my SO a paypal debit card in her name. I put the money into my paypal account from my bank in the USA. She can with draw up to 400 USD per day at bank of china for a fee and a minimum withdrawl of 1000 rmb. I dont know about ATM machines as she tells me she cannot find one that will work in Nanning.Hope this helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 I'm not so sure the issue was whether or not a Paypal ATM would work or not.. any ATM should in principle work, regardless of who it is under. The issue, I thought, was that an ATM is tied to a bank account. If that account is a US bank, there should be no issue at all. I always thought the Paypal issue was trying to get it to work with a chinese bank account. Where money transferred between transactions of buying and selling (ie: Ebay) and directly to a chinese bank.. where one could ultimately draw off using the ATM. So, it would be good to hear what was the bank, US or chinese?? and if paypal transactions flow into the chinese account ??135663[/snapback]No the issue was how does one get money to the SO in China and if there is no ATM there how do they get money other then by wire western union bank transfer etc etc You can get a PayPal debit Master Card in anybodies name no signature SSN needed you must be a PayPal premiere member for 60 days to get a second card and thats it,, no costs the account is linked to your bank account and you control the depoists to the PayPal account.. With a card in you SO's name if there is no ATM they can walk into the bank there to the teller and get a cash advance.Oh and for purchases PayPal gives you money back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 I sent my SO a paypal debit card in her name. I put the money into my paypal account from my bank in the USA. She can with draw up to 400 USD per day at bank of china for a fee and a minimum withdrawl of 1000 rmb. I dont know about ATM machines as she tells me she cannot find one that will work in Nanning.Hope this helps 135665[/snapback]That supposrts my statement about going into the bank..with card in SO name..Works great beats the high costs of transfering money and very quick the funds are there as soon as you transfer into your PayPal account..And really helps for that trip to GUZ for hotel costs air or train tickets eating little item/gifts etc purchase don't forget the cash back when you make a purchase..Geez I ought to get a job with them.. Thanks!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_dawei Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Don't want to lose sight of welcoming Randy back !! and for all the info... I'm not sure that I've learned anything new.. anybody can give their SO an ATM and most will withdraw. SO, no advantage to using the Paypal one that I see... unless your bank ATM won't work in China... I can see that I won't get my point across (and I researched using a chinese bank account tied to the paypal account, which is a problem from what I remember) without too much explanation and side tracking... so I'll let it go.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 The problem is not every town has ATM's however almost all have banks that accept Visa and or Master Card so if no ATM they walk into the bank and get cash from teller but card must have their name on it. Yes we understand about debit card can be sent in anybodies name and used at ATM as long as you have a pass word/pin however what if there are no ATM's in the town I have run into this many times China has not developed their ATM system to be available all over.This eliminate the need for an ATM..by having the card in So's name.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_dawei Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 The problem is not every town has ATM's however almost all have banks that accept Visa and or Master Card so if no ATM they walk into the bank and get cash from teller but card must have their name on it. Yes we understand about debit card can be sent in anybodies name and used at ATM as long as you have a pass word/pin however what if there are no ATM's in the town I have run into this many times China has not developed their ATM system to be available all over.This eliminate the need for an ATM..by having the card in So's name..135677[/snapback]Good info and clarification. Thanks ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikem Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Don't want to lose sight of welcoming Randy back !! and for all the info... I'm not sure that I've learned anything new.. anybody can give their SO an ATM and most will withdraw. SO, no advantage to using the Paypal one that I see... unless your bank ATM won't work in China... I can see that I won't get my point across (and I researched using a chinese bank account tied to the paypal account, which is a problem from what I remember) without too much explanation and side tracking... so I'll let it go..135672[/snapback]No Problem you do not link the Chinese bank account to your account or the PayPal account.. You open the PayPal account in your name 5 minutes and link to you bank account you control the amount of funds sent to PayPal account at their site set up a premeier account and request a debit card in your name.. after 60 days they will issue to you another debit card in anybodies name upon your request you tell them. Once you get the card from PayPal they will only send to you send the card to SO activate the card after SO gets give SO pin number they now have card in their name don't need ATM can use in bank/teller or ATM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy W Posted July 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Don't want to lose sight of welcoming Randy back !! and for all the info... I'm not sure that I've learned anything new.. anybody can give their SO an ATM and most will withdraw. SO, no advantage to using the Paypal one that I see... unless your bank ATM won't work in China... I can see that I won't get my point across (and I researched using a chinese bank account tied to the paypal account, which is a problem from what I remember) without too much explanation and side tracking... so I'll let it go..135672[/snapback]No Problem you do not link the Chinese bank account to your account or the PayPal account.. You open the PayPal account in your name 5 minutes and link to you bank account you control the amount of funds sent to PayPal account at their site set up a premeier account and request a debit card in your name.. after 60 days they will issue to you another debit card in anybodies name upon your request you tell them. Once you get the card from PayPal they will only send to you send the card to SO activate the card after SO gets give SO pin number they now have card in their name don't need ATM can use in bank/teller or ATM 135680[/snapback] To clarify the PayPal situation - a PayPal account is usaually set up by an eBay seller to receive funds from a buyer, or a buyer to send funds to a seller. The seller may also transfer funds from a bank account to his own PayPal account. Why would he/she do this? Read on. A seller may acquire a PayPal ATM card in order to facilitate the withdrawal of funds from the account. No actual eBay sale or purchase need be involved - just a free Premier account. So someone such as ourselves may give the card to our SO to allow her to withdraw funds that we transfer to the account. Yes this is a typical VISA or MasterCard debit card. The advantage to it is that no annual, maintenance, or non-usage fees are involved (it is absolutely free) - just, as we found, a $1.00 per-transaction fee. I believe this is far cheaper than any other (reported) method of cash transfer to China. And there is no direct linkage to any bank account. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HanLi Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 Don't want to lose sight of welcoming Randy back !! and for all the info... I'm not sure that I've learned anything new.. anybody can give their SO an ATM and most will withdraw. SO, no advantage to using the Paypal one that I see... unless your bank ATM won't work in China... I can see that I won't get my point across (and I researched using a chinese bank account tied to the paypal account, which is a problem from what I remember) without too much explanation and side tracking... so I'll let it go..135672[/snapback]No Problem you do not link the Chinese bank account to your account or the PayPal account.. You open the PayPal account in your name 5 minutes and link to you bank account you control the amount of funds sent to PayPal account at their site set up a premeier account and request a debit card in your name.. after 60 days they will issue to you another debit card in anybodies name upon your request you tell them. Once you get the card from PayPal they will only send to you send the card to SO activate the card after SO gets give SO pin number they now have card in their name don't need ATM can use in bank/teller or ATM 135680[/snapback] To clarify the PayPal situation - a PayPal account is usaually set up by an eBay seller to receive funds from a buyer, or a buyer to send funds to a seller. The seller may also transfer funds from a bank account to his own PayPal account. Why would he/she do this? Read on. A seller may acquire a PayPal ATM card in order to facilitate the withdrawal of funds from the account. No actual eBay sale or purchase need be involved - just a free Premier account. So someone such as ourselves may give the card to our SO to allow her to withdraw funds that we transfer to the account. Yes this is a typical VISA or MasterCard debit card. The advantage to it is that no annual, maintenance, or non-usage fees are involved (it is absolutely free) - just, as we found, a $1.00 per-transaction fee. I believe this is far cheaper than any other (reported) method of cash transfer to China. And there is no direct linkage to any bank account.135691[/snapback]What about going into the bank? Doesn't the bank charge a fee, when I was in Shanghai and used my Visa card to withdraw funds, Bank of China added a hefty charge to it... Frankly, I have never used an ATM, never trusted it... but that is my little paranoia... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DragonFlower Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 All of this kinda makes my head spin in confusion. I have had very poor success with ATM cards in China.I sell on Ebay,have had a Paypal debit card since the beginning.As soon as we married,I had a card issued in my wife's name and sent to her.She could find nowhere in Shenzhen,bank or ATM,that would accept it.Part of the problem was that it is on Mastercards system,which is not widely accepted in China.Perhaps ,now,Paypal issues cards from Visa also. My own Visa debit card has been very hit and miss since I have been traveling to China.At first it never worked in an ATM.(even the the ones marked with a Visa logo).In Sep. 2004 it worked some,but in May 2005 it failed to work in the same machines I used it in before. SOOO,WU has become the method of choice.And cash goes to China with me,even though I was hit by a pickpocket in the Shenzhen train station,last trip($100 and a big nuisance with the cards).My wifes in Hubei now,until she comes here.A 1 hour busride to the nearest town with WU agent. long Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ShaQuaNew Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 All of this kinda makes my head spin in confusion. I have had very poor success with ATM cards in China. My own Visa debit card has been very hit and miss since I have been traveling to China. At first it never worked in an ATM.(even the the ones marked with a Visa logo). In Sep. 2004 it worked some,but in May 2005 it failed to work in the same machines I used it in before. And cash goes to China with me,even though I was hit by a pickpocket in the Shenzhen train station,last trip($100 and a big nuisance with the cards). 135821[/snapback]I really think that using an international Swift Account transfer is the best way to go. Most all China banks provide ATM cards on the spot. It's safe, easy and painless..... Swift Account Transfer J & L Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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