Money thing..

[MarkLuvsShuPing]

Just because I've never been there and I'm about to be, how difficult is it to find an ATM? Do most of the cities (in my case QiQiHar) have an ATM? My concern is accessing funds that aren't in the bank yet. In other words, I get paid via direct deposit while I'm there and I want to access that money. Will I be making a trip to Harbin at that time because QiQIHar doesn't have an ATM?

[bobmal99]

The Beijing airport should have an ATM that will give you fresh new rmb.. Not so sure about the smaller towns. Check out my website, tons of pictures of China.

 

I expect you will visit the Great Wall... Unbelievable site to see in person..

 

 

When are you leaving??

[warpedbored]

Finding an ATM I could use was a big problem for me when I was in Guilin. I had to wait until I got back to Nanning and go to a major bank there. Even then The machine would only give me 100 yuan so I had to go inside and talk to the manager who ran my card for me inside and gave me the 5000 yuan I wanted. Cards may be alright in major cities like Guangzhou or Bejing but I wouldn't count on them in other cities. After the fiasco I am going through now with Ikobo I don't trust Chinese ATMs anymore anyway. Best to take cash.

[natrigon]

Finding an ATM I could use was a big problem for me when I was in Guilin.  I had to wait until I got back to Nanning and go to a major bank there.  Even then The machine would only give me 100 yuan so I had to go inside and talk to the manager who ran my card for me inside and gave me the 5000 yuan I wanted. Cards may be alright in major cities like Guangzhou or Bejing but I wouldn't  count on them in other cities.  After the fiasco I am going through now with Ikobo I don't trust Chinese ATMs anymore anyway.  Best to take cash.

I couldn't agree more. Take cash, change in the major cities at the major banks for best rates, no problems. If I have left over at the end I just leave it with my sweety.

 

Louis

[MarkLuvsShuPing]

I'm leaving in one week, next Friday morning. Well, I should have enough in the bank to get me through the whole trip, but it would suck to get to QiQiHar and run out of ready cash. "Sorry Airen, we have to go back to Beijing so I can hit an ATM". Payday on the 26th and we'll be in QiQiHar for sure. YIKES!

[bobmal99]

Have a great time and good luck with the ATM's!!!

[MarkLuvsShuPing]

Thanks Bob. BTW I checked out your pictures. You are a lucky man with a lovely wife. Thanks for sharing your pics!

[hypoclear]

I am a user of BOA also . Do you find the exchange rate better at BOC rather then going through BOA Money exchange listed on their site. I have used twice nice service but do not know if it is the best rate.

I've never exchanged money though BOA, so I don't know. The BOC rate is 8.17 yuan to the dollar. Is this better or worse? The best I've gotten was 8.22 - on the street

It has been some time.. about 11 months, but I converted USD to RMB at the bank of China for 8.26 RMB to the dollar. Don't think it has gone down more since.

I did find RMB to HKD in Hong Kong or even in China, it is better to shop around on the street for the best rate. Banks seem to be killers over there and charge a fee on top of bad rates.

 

Anyone have experience with HSBC? The BEA {Bank of East Asia} we were looking in to were terrible!!! No saving account, no debit card, no atm card and no interest on checking account. This was for me to set it up in NYC from here. So basicly they are saying sure we will hold your money , use it, use you and than! ask no tell you to pay us for the priviledge of wiring it to you in China... of course you can always write a check.. heheheheh you sooooooooooooo dumb!!! China no take check.. hehehe

 

Needless to say we will let tham process the paper work and say no if they can't give us something more reasonable.

 

I'm begining to think that plain brown wrapped envelope from a guy named lou or vinnie is the way to go!!

 

Mark

[frank1538]

I'm begining to think that plain brown wrapped envelope from a guy named lou or vinnie is the way to go!!

 

Mark

Jingwen's mother is insistent on street exchanges - says she can get the best rate on the street.

 

While I don't don't this, you have to be real careful. First, there's the issue of counterfeit money. I couldn't tell a good bill from a bad one if my life depended on it, so I figured, if I can't tell, most of the other people couldn't tell either.

 

The second thing I experienced first hand while taking mom's advice on using the street. Double and triple count the money!!!!. I watched this guy count out the yuan to give me in exchange for $100. He counted and I added. Yep, 826 yuan. He counted again. I added again. Yep, 826 yuan.

 

He then gave me the money, and I counted. WTF? 726 yuan. I counted again. Yep, 726 yuan. When he was holding and counting the money, he had folded one of the bills in half so he was double counting it.

 

Needless to say, Jingwen went ballistic which brought the requisite crowd of judge and jury to resolve the problem. Feeling a little out of place, I just stood there while both sides pleaded their cases. Finally, the crowd agreed with us, and Vinnie gave us another 100 yuan.

[hypoclear]

I'm begining to think that plain brown wrapped envelope from a guy named lou or vinnie is the way to go!!

 

Mark

Jingwen's mother is insistent on street exchanges - says she can get the best rate on the street.

 

While I don't don't this, you have to be real careful. First, there's the issue of counterfeit money. I couldn't tell a good bill from a bad one if my life depended on it, so I figured, if I can't tell, most of the other people couldn't tell either.

 

The second thing I experienced first hand while taking mom's advice on using the street. Double and triple count the money!!!!. I watched this guy count out the yuan to give me in exchange for $100. He counted and I added. Yep, 826 yuan. He counted again. I added again. Yep, 826 yuan.

 

He then gave me the money, and I counted. WTF? 726 yuan. I counted again. Yep, 726 yuan. When he was holding and counting the money, he had folded one of the bills in half so he was double counting it.

 

Needless to say, Jingwen went ballistic which brought the requisite crowd of judge and jury to resolve the problem. Feeling a little out of place, I just stood there while both sides pleaded their cases. Finally, the crowd agreed with us, and Vinnie gave us another 100 yuan.

good one Frank. but I think you have to remember.. the whole show is part of the entertainment for the locals.

 

We got a conterfiet bill one night in a bar where I was looking for work. Bea didn't notice it until we went to have dinner and the cashier told us. You feel the money and it has bumps.. only way I can explain it and this one was very smooth and slick. Some people snap or flick the bill and can tell by the sound. Anyways we just stopped by the same bar, chatted the waitress up and passed it alone.. nice cold beer and change... some where there is justice.

 

But you are right, I ment the little exchange booths on the streets, infact the one we used in HK after checking out 4 or 5 was just 1/4 of a block from a major bank with bad rates.

 

that vinnie guy, you know these things happen you know??

[Martytb]

I took cash and had the bride put it in her bank account. The money was available at any branch or ATM.

[MarkLuvsShuPing]

Now that's not a bad idea Marty. My problem after that is not being able to access money that is deposited in the bank after I've made the initial withdrawl and moved on to QiQiHar. If there isn't an ATM is can withdraw the new money from, then I'd have to go back to Beijing if I ran out of money. That's not going to happen.

[warpedbored]

Why not just deposit money from your credit card to your checking account and pay it off when you get home? Then you won't have to worry about accessing the deposit.

[chinadave2001]

Just because I've never been there and I'm about to be, how difficult is it to find an ATM?  Do most of the cities (in my case QiQiHar) have an ATM?  My concern is accessing funds that aren't in the bank yet.  In other words, I get paid via direct deposit while I'm there and I want to access that money.  Will I be making a trip to Harbin at that time because QiQIHar doesn't have an ATM?

Another possibilty is if you have a visa debit card on your checking account, you can take a "cash advance" at any Bank of China. Probably some extra fees there, but useful if you really need the money. None of the ATMs in Qingdao would let me get at my money, but this always worked.

Chinadave

[MarkLuvsShuPing]

You see! Right there, you see! That's why I love you guys.

 

Good thinking Carl. Now if I only had a credit card. Just kidding. I'll do that, that should help if needed. After all, isn't that what a credit card is for?

 

Unless, I could just use the card instead of cash. Do most hotels and bigger businesses take credit cards? I assume they would. I'll just run up the ole credit card to the amount of the deposit before I use cash to pay for things.

 

Every now and then I get bumped out of the fog. Thanks for bumping, Carl.