Culture, Daily Living, & Adjustment

I know you have written about this topic in the Currency and Banking section of the guide, but I just had a particular question and there are a few options available.

I am going back to England for a month in August and obviously need to take some of my hard earned cash with me. It seems I have 4 options.

1) Do a bank transfer (I bank with BOC, and as I have worked on a F visa since I have been here as I freelance I do not have the FEC or tax receipts, so I dont know if I will be able to do this)

2) Use Western Union. I don't really understand how it works. Do I have to get someone in the UK to pick the money up and deposit it into my bank account or can I just wire it to direct to my bank? Also you said doing this requires US dollars. Where would I buy them without the documentation?

3) Buy GB Pounds and take the money in cash on the plane. Where would I buy GB pounds without the documentation?

4) Get my girlfriend to wire it for me to my bank. If this is a good option then which bank is best to do this?

Thank you in advance for your help. The amount I want to transfer is around 9000 RMB if that helps with your answer.

Hi Dr. Greg,

I'm about to close out my bank account in Hunan province and move to Guangzhou, are there any other options than carrying a large sum of RMB with me on the train? Do they have bank drafts or cashiers checks here that could help me make a smooth transition to opening up a new account in my new city?

Many of these questions were covered in a recent thread called Bringing Money Home from China in the Headmaster Ken forum.

Another suggestion for transporting money, not covered in that thread, was sent to me by our very own Sinobear:

One option that wasn't mentioned in the post by Eric about taking money home: you can go to the "main" branch of any ICBC and have a certified cheque made out in any of the major currencies. Safer than carrying cash and only the one-off service fee.

I have also been told that money orders are getting easier to obtain and that too would be safer than carrying cash.

Musicjunkie, the last I checked, Western Union in mainland China required U.S. dollars. Your girlfriend can change RMB into U.S. dollars with nothing more than her Chinese national I.D. That's it. You would only need one transaction as the maximum is $2,000 USD. The fee would be $25.00 I believe for a $1300 transfer.

I have never done an international bank account transfer in mainland China but I don't think you need tax receipts for that purpose, just as long as the currency has already been converted into British pounds.

So I am going to China next Friday and I need a way to bring money for the first month. I went to my bank (Bank of America) and they said they don't do travelers checks there anymore.

The guy that I talked to said that I could use my VISA card however, with a bank over there (he mentioned Construction Bank of China) and that I could use my card to access money from my Bank of America account for no fee. Is this true?

That way I would only bring like $150-$200 cash at first and just go to the bank for the first few weeks until I got my first check.

I know you can use your ATM Visa/Debit card to withdraw cash (renminbi) at the Construction Bank of China. I'm not sure about the "no fees" part. While the Bank of America may not impose any fees, I'm fairly certain that the Construction Bank of China will charge something against the card. I just can't remember what their fees are.

Well I did some digging around today and had an experience that just about sums China up really.

I went to an area of Shenzhen that has a large percentage of expats in it, the area is called Shekou. It's the part of the city where the western grocery shops are largely located, you can buy many imported items, etc. I haven't been there in ages as it's far from where I live.

I went there today and asked around, and even the Bank of China will happily change money to pounds, dollars, any currency you desire with just a passport. They will also wire money to England for me with just a passport, the form is even translated into English. I couldn't believe it. I asked why these services were not available in the other branches and she just looked at me blank and said she didn't know before offering "There is demand for it round here".

There were loads of private money changing booths around offering excellent rates as well. I bought 800GBP for 8240RMB(excellent rate) and will wire it to England on Monday with BOC as they wouldn't do it on weekends.

That's China in a nutshell: Non-existent consistency, and occasionally a good result.

Hello, I am returning for my second year of teaching in China. I recently cashed out a savings account I had in America and have in my possession a check for about 9k. I am concerned that I will have a hard time depositing this in my Bank of China account. The check is made out to me using my name with my middle initial but of course my passport uses my full name. Does anyone know if I will be able to deposit this check? I don't mind a long clearance time.

Please note, I live in the Philippines during the summer breaks and cannot open an account there without certification from a bank. Hmm, anybody know how to get this from a Chinese bank?

Thanks.

There is really no way anyone can specifically advise you because one's banking experience in China varies from branch to branch, teller to teller, and the particular phase the moon happens to be in at the time of your visit.

You'll need to bring a Chinese translator with you and just keep your fingers crossed. There shouldn't be any problem depositing this check but that doesn't mean there won't be.

As for the certificate (I'm not sure what type of certificate you need to open an account in the Philippines), you'll need to have your Chinese interpreter speak with the teller and manager about this--assuming what you need exists in China and can be adequately described in Chinese.