cash to bring

[China Shark]

Vince, if you're staying in a respectable hotel you shouldn't any worries. I never had any problems with my labtop being left out the first three weeks I was living out of a hotel. You guys all compare your experiences from your respective countries. Theft does occur here yet not to the degree you are used to back home. But if you are weary use the inroom safe.
China Shark Mike

[Bob]

I agree with CS Mike. When i visited China the first time I left my laptop in my hotel room just sitting in it's case beside the table. I never had any problems, everything was in it's place and nothing was stolen. The other 2 times I visited China I was staying at my wife's house so that doesn't count. Like CS Mike has mentioned, if you are in a reputable hotel there should be no problems what so ever, or just use the hotel safe if you feel afraid of getting it stolen. I usually carried my passport with me at all times, but then I decided to lock it in the hotel safe that was in my room. I never encountered any problems with my personal belongings when in China, I even left things sitting on the desk and tables in my hotel room and everything was still there when I returned. The cleaning lady would sometimes move the items when she cleaned the room and place them, that was all. The only person that can really enter your room is the cleaning lady, and I do not think she will risk loosing her job and have other implications and problems that she could face if ever she was caught stealing something from a clients room.

[Willy The Londoner]

Hi China Shark

I have a Bank of China account here.  Before I left UK I went to the London Branch.  They told me that I would not save anything as branches outside of China are clasased as a seperate bank and I would still have those high charges and exchange rates.  They suggested using a debit card but to be prepared for it not to work after one or two withdrawals.  China bank card issued outside of china would be the same.  Better rates on card transfers. Quick call to your bank whilst here , after it was stopped, would open up your account for the duration.  They are unable to programe their computer until your card is stopped.

I have no problem here now.

Willy

[David5o]

Yeah, we have bank accounts in China with debit cards. For anyone here that is planning on marrying your lady in the future .....Open an account, and deposit money to that account, you can also deposit any cash you have left over from your visits. This is definately the best all round situation, as far as access to money in China is concerned....

David....

[wilsbrough]

Just a quick mention on the travelers cheques, i see people are saying it could be a problem if the signatures are not exact, a quick story that should put your mind at ease, i am left handed and about two months before my visit i accidently chopped two of my fingers off at work!! They were stitched back on and i still went to China while recovering. But while in China i still could not use my hand for writing with so i was having to use my right hand for everything (thank the Chinese for chopsticks as i could not use a knife and fork anyway..!) But my right hands writing kinda resembled a 4 year olds, and every-time i tried to write it was completely different and my signature was terrible! But i went to the bank of China with my travelers cheques and my passport and i had no problem with changing them into yuan.

Oh, and i see someone mentioned the black market giving you a better exchange rate, well yes they do, but unless you are with your lady or even then i would think twice about it as we was approached every-time we was about to go into the bank by one of these guys, but the girl i was with said that quite often the money is counterfeit, and they approach the tourist as they probably would not be able to tell the difference. So if you do think about using one of these guys be very careful.

Andy.

[David5o]

Andy,

I wasn't talking about the bank touts, the real black market money exchangers, are basically shop keepers and the like!!.... very easy to find again. haha!! They have need of Western currencies to buy goods and stuff. The locals have a hard time changing there RMB for Dollars, Euros, Pounds etc.... No i never have anything to do with the touts either.... not unless a good friend is willing to verify he's OK!!  

David....