Traveling to china...money question....

[goldenseal]

HI, I am hoping to travel to china this fall, it will be my first time there, or anywhere overseas from the US. Of course I have alot of questions about this, but the main one is what to do about money. I have read so many responses ie. travelers checks? others say travelers checks are crap. ATM? some say, my foreign card wont work in china? Credit Card? some say they arent accepted except in big hotels etc. I have no idea what to do, or what the best idea is. I will land in Beijing, stay for a day or two, and fly to xiamen, where I will be the rest of the time. Any advice is appreciated.

[芳芳]

Well, I spent 5 months using my mastercard, wich is accepted in any Bank of China - 中国银行

for sure anywhere in China.

Of course there are some fees charged each time you withdraw money, it depends on your bank.

The best is to ask your bank if they have some agreements with a bank present in most places in China.

[大肚子]

Traveler's cheques can be a pain, but they are an option. The situation with ATMs is rapidly changing. Bank of China has accepted foreign creditcards for a while now, and increasingly other banks are following suit (I know China Minsheng bank does now). Foreign credit cards are difficult, and are, indeed, only accepted in major hotels or in a few rare cases large department stores. However, since you can use ATMs cash shouldn't be a problem. It's worth noting that China is still a mostly cash based society (though like many, many things that is changing day by day) so it's best to have cash handy whenever you're out. 1-300 RMB should be more than adequate for a day, barring major purchases, large, expensive meals or extensive drinking sessions.

[phbriggs]

Usually TCs are accepted more widely than cash and credit cards in China (some of the smaller offbeat BoC branches give you strange looks when giving plastic Aussie money over for exchange - no problems accepting it but can take time as they make numerous phone calls etc). My preference is to take a little of each and take most of the one you are most comfortable travelling with.

[twotree]

What I do is bring my credit card (for hotels), and traveler's checks. I cash the checks at the bank and then pay with RMB for most things.