Along with all the other worries that have crossed my mind while preparing for this trip was carrying large amounts of cash and carrying a credit card with a sky high spending limit. This is how I solved it to my satisfaction.
For Cash. I went to the Western Union website and opened an account for myself. Its was not difficult at all. Now when I am in China and running low on cash I can go online to western union and send money to myself at 1000s of locations in China. Follow this link to get started.
https://wumt.westernunion.com/WUCOMWEB/staticMid.do?method=load&countryCode=US&languageCode=en&pagename=osMoneyTransferOptionsFor a credit card that can be stolen and maxed out. (For USA residents) I went to Wal-Mart and got a prepaid Wal-Mart VISA Credit card and loaded it with about 500 bucks.. It’s a temporary card and you need to go online to activate it and get a real permanent card mailed to you that can be reloaded with cash. (The temporary one can’t be reloaded)
This takes about a week so you should start NOW just so you will have it in your wallet when the time arrives. I’m sure other countries have prepaid credit cards I just don’t know the specifics. I only put a few hundred dollars on it at a time and I have been using it for internet purchases and what not.
To be able to reload it from China there is an option to transfer funds from you bank account to the card. I went to my wells Fargo account online and added the Wal-Mart card as one of my transfer options. So now when I want to recharge my credit card I go online from anywhere in the world and transfer the funds directly to the VISA card. For security reason and to verify that you are the owner of the card and the bank account this will take about 5 business days to complete.
So now I don’t need to carry large sums of money and I don’t fret (too much) about my credit card being stolen.
Its all a little hassle to get set up but in the end it is really convenient and gives you peace of mind.
Gerry