Vinny Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 Hello all! I am getting ready to head to China for my wedding. I need to bring a substantial amount of money. What do most people do? I really feel uncomfortable carrying a lot of money on me. In the past I would carry lots of $100 bills. Do China banks or exchange places accept $500 or $1000 bills? or can China banks act like an ATM machine where I can withdraw money? Thanks,Vinny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b.c Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 I dont believe any $500 or $1,000 are in circulation any longer. One option would be cashier's check but the exchange rate you get on them is a bit lower than cash. I dont have much experience with ATM in china as I usually bring cash. But lots of members here use ATM and there have been many posts about them recently. It sounds like a good option, especially through Bank of America and its China partner bank (forgot who it is). But I think there is a daily limit so you would probably need to do it for several days. Regarding the wedding, I am curious as to how much you are planning to spend and what city/area the wedding will be and any details about the wedding you can provide because we are in the process of planning our Chinese wedding ceremony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a2784 Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 I dont believe any $500 or $1,000 are in circulation any longer. One option would be cashier's check but the exchange rate you get on them is a bit lower than cash. I dont have much experience with ATM in china as I usually bring cash. But lots of members here use ATM and there have been many posts about them recently. It sounds like a good option, especially through Bank of America and its China partner bank (forgot who it is). But I think there is a daily limit so you would probably need to do it for several days. Regarding the wedding, I am curious as to how much you are planning to spend and what city/area the wedding will be and any details about the wedding you can provide because we are in the process of planning our Chinese wedding ceremony.I did not even know they existed -- I have never had any problems using ATMs in China. My bank is Wachovia. The only problem is the daily withdrawal limit. Wachovia has a $500 USD/day limit (for my own safety they told me when I tried to increase it and bitched that it was my money that I wanted to get access to). One option is to transfer the money beforehand to your girl's chinese bank account. Second option is you can use your ATM/debit card (if it is also a Visa/MC) to get a cash advance from a bank in China. I did this with Bank of China and China Merchants Bank. The limit for that was $10,000/day. The drawback was the chinese bank chanrged 3% transaction fee (took it off the top so you got 3% less RMB than you paid for) and the Wachovia took the 2% international transfer fee (which that charge anyway for using the card in an ATM). So basically for 3% fee I could get a bank transfer via my ATM/debit card. I just made my compnay pay for the 5% fee ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2mike&jin Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 Hello all! I am getting ready to head to China for my wedding. I need to bring a substantial amount of money. What do most people do? I really feel uncomfortable carrying a lot of money on me. In the past I would carry lots of $100 bills. Do China banks or exchange places accept $500 or $1000 bills? or can China banks act like an ATM machine where I can withdraw money? Thanks,Vinny THere are many banks in CHina where your ATM card will work to withdraw money. I should say...as long as you are in a sizeable city...you can get money - just like here. Ok, HSBC allows almost all US bank cards to Work - usually you can take out 3000 RMB a day. Bankof America Cards work at China Industrial bank...etc. (Look online to see if there is an HSBC in her city) You can carry as much cash as you want from the US - but you will pay about 1% at a bank to convert it - and they have the advantage. Your lady will know where to do this - and it requires her to have an account at the bank. Never exchange money on the street. She can exchange up to $50K USD per year. You can also get her bank CODE, address, and her account number...and have the money wired directly to her account. I used to do this and it took about 2 days to be complete. I also do this with my account in China - so we had up to $100K a year to spend with the two accounts. I did this at Bank of China - but it works everywhere!. I converted to RMB (you can keep RMB or USD or any other money in your account) and then I would use my BOC ATM card - and get 20,000 RMB at a whack if I wanted. Of course I had to take a plastic bag to carry all of it! Bottom line - it can be incredibly easy or incredibly hard to move money to and from. If you have trouble communicating with your significant other (you certainly wouldn't want the wire instructions to go awry)...carry the money with you - I have carried up to $11,000 at a time..but I recommend keeping it limited to $10,000 USD. Good Luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chengdu4me Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 Some options - Use your ATM/Debit card at just about any bank. Different banks have different daily withdrawals limits. Wire Transfer from your U.S. account to her China account. Western Union - send money to her or to yourself and pick it up when you arrive. You have 1 year to complete a transfer. Most all Bank of China and all China Postal Savings Banks are receiving stations. Cash - Just put it in your pocket and go. As long as you are taking less than $10,000, you don't even need any forms to fill out. If more than $10,000, you need to complete FINCEN105, but I doubt you meet anyone to give it to on your way out of the country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HelloWorld08 Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 open Bank of America checking account and put your money in there and bring your bank of america ATM card to china and use China Construction Bank(CCB) to withdraw money. very safe don't have to worry about loosing money or getting robbed/mugged.... and there are no fees to withdraw money between the banks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted February 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 Thank you all for responding! To post #2, my wedding will be in Huizhou City. I think it will cost anywhere from $20-25k ymb. As for details, I have none. My Fiancee is planning everything : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam and Fen Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 Congrats and Goodluck and remember we need to see pictures specially the ones after you get stoned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnoblett Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 The largest bill that US government produces is the $100, note make sure they are new bills, the banks in China are known to reject "Small" oval bills. They WILL Accept this: http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Business/images-2/100-dollar-bill.jpg They WILL NOT Accept these: http://www.churchsigns.com/pages/rebates/images/ben_franklin_100_dollar_bill.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny Posted February 24, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 WoW Thanks! I know they have been very picky. They told me they do not accept any kind of markings or if they are slightly ripped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slw268 Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 Make sure that if you decide to do the ATM route, which I did for years without a problem, you should (must) let your bank or credit union know you will be doing transactions in China. If not, you may risk not getting authorization. = no money. Hey Dan, what cha doin' with so much cash just layin' around, huh? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amberjack1234 Posted February 24, 2010 Report Share Posted February 24, 2010 I dont believe any $500 or $1,000 are in circulation any longer. One option would be cashier's check but the exchange rate you get on them is a bit lower than cash. I dont have much experience with ATM in china as I usually bring cash. But lots of members here use ATM and there have been many posts about them recently. It sounds like a good option, especially through Bank of America and its China partner bank (forgot who it is). But I think there is a daily limit so you would probably need to do it for several days. Regarding the wedding, I am curious as to how much you are planning to spend and what city/area the wedding will be and any details about the wedding you can provide because we are in the process of planning our Chinese wedding ceremony.I did not even know they existed -- I have never had any problems using ATMs in China. My bank is Wachovia. The only problem is the daily withdrawal limit. Wachovia has a $500 USD/day limit (for my own safety they told me when I tried to increase it and bitched that it was my money that I wanted to get access to). One option is to transfer the money beforehand to your girl's chinese bank account. Second option is you can use your ATM/debit card (if it is also a Visa/MC) to get a cash advance from a bank in China. I did this with Bank of China and China Merchants Bank. The limit for that was $10,000/day. The drawback was the chinese bank chanrged 3% transaction fee (took it off the top so you got 3% less RMB than you paid for) and the Wachovia took the 2% international transfer fee (which that charge anyway for using the card in an ATM). So basically for 3% fee I could get a bank transfer via my ATM/debit card. I just made my compnay pay for the 5% fee ... Perhaps you will find this link about US currency interesting then. http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/curre...minations.shtml Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a2784 Posted February 25, 2010 Report Share Posted February 25, 2010 I dont believe any $500 or $1,000 are in circulation any longer. One option would be cashier's check but the exchange rate you get on them is a bit lower than cash. I dont have much experience with ATM in china as I usually bring cash. But lots of members here use ATM and there have been many posts about them recently. It sounds like a good option, especially through Bank of America and its China partner bank (forgot who it is). But I think there is a daily limit so you would probably need to do it for several days. Regarding the wedding, I am curious as to how much you are planning to spend and what city/area the wedding will be and any details about the wedding you can provide because we are in the process of planning our Chinese wedding ceremony.I did not even know they existed -- I have never had any problems using ATMs in China. My bank is Wachovia. The only problem is the daily withdrawal limit. Wachovia has a $500 USD/day limit (for my own safety they told me when I tried to increase it and bitched that it was my money that I wanted to get access to). One option is to transfer the money beforehand to your girl's chinese bank account. Second option is you can use your ATM/debit card (if it is also a Visa/MC) to get a cash advance from a bank in China. I did this with Bank of China and China Merchants Bank. The limit for that was $10,000/day. The drawback was the chinese bank chanrged 3% transaction fee (took it off the top so you got 3% less RMB than you paid for) and the Wachovia took the 2% international transfer fee (which that charge anyway for using the card in an ATM). So basically for 3% fee I could get a bank transfer via my ATM/debit card. I just made my compnay pay for the 5% fee ... Perhaps you will find this link about US currency interesting then. http://www.ustreas.gov/education/faq/curre...minations.shtml LarryThanks...nice link. Now I know why I did not know they were in existance. I am too young to have ever seen them ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveandrong Posted February 25, 2010 Report Share Posted February 25, 2010 New bills are the best....and when i say new bills, just make sure there are no marks on them, holes (even the tiniest of what appears to be a pin hole can be rejected), no tears, no missing corners and if the bill has been folded too many times and Bens face is looking a little worn, they can reject it for that too...i would always go to the bank and bring home a wad and then sort through the ones i already had and then sort through the new ones from the bank and always take the most pristine ones i had.....even then they would find one thing or another to reject some.....but the rejected ones would always be accepted at my hotel......what always burned me up was, you give the bank the best money you can find, and in exchange, you get what looks like money from an old monopoly game from the 1940's.....ragged pieces of paper......atm's are good too....just be sure you have your limits for withdrawal set before departing....don't want to get in a bind when you really need a pile of cash fast....and i never change my money back to dollars....just take whats left back to the usa....figure it will never lose its value and you got something to start with on the next trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_dawei Posted February 25, 2010 Report Share Posted February 25, 2010 if you bring money; make it very FRESH bills, preferably 100s and have a bank withdraw receipt to prove it came from a bank. better is, as stated above; SEND THE MONEY TO HER so it is in china ahead of time... This is the least troubling and simple way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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