ATM's? In Beijing airport, etc.
Mar 18th, 2004, 06:55 AM
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ATM's? In Beijing airport, etc.
We come into Beijing late at night so we are wondering if there is an ATM at the airport. Also what kinds do they have in the city?
It seems like most everything is cash and we want to be sure to have access to it.
Thanks!
It seems like most everything is cash and we want to be sure to have access to it.
Thanks!
Mar 18th, 2004, 07:08 AM
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Four ATMs in the airport alone accept foreign cards, and there are 24 hour money changing facilities and an automated money changing machine as well.
There are plenty of choices within the city, but you'd be wise to take a list of addresses with you, downloaded from the Web site of your card supplier. But since they all take the same foreign cards or none at all, www.mastercard.com will do you. Mastercard/Cirrus, Visa/Plus, Amex, Diner's, and JCB are all accepted.
ATM transactions are often limited to Y2500. Restock well before your money runs out, and if you are going out of the major cities be sure you have that list of working machines, because they can be very few or none at all in some provinces.
Carry a couple of hundred US dollars in cash in case of emergency, as that can be exchanged into YRMB at almost any branch of any bank in any town. Cash is also available at thousands of locations via Western Union, and via your credit card over the counter at larger branches of the Bank of China, although this is expensive.
Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html
There are plenty of choices within the city, but you'd be wise to take a list of addresses with you, downloaded from the Web site of your card supplier. But since they all take the same foreign cards or none at all, www.mastercard.com will do you. Mastercard/Cirrus, Visa/Plus, Amex, Diner's, and JCB are all accepted.
ATM transactions are often limited to Y2500. Restock well before your money runs out, and if you are going out of the major cities be sure you have that list of working machines, because they can be very few or none at all in some provinces.
Carry a couple of hundred US dollars in cash in case of emergency, as that can be exchanged into YRMB at almost any branch of any bank in any town. Cash is also available at thousands of locations via Western Union, and via your credit card over the counter at larger branches of the Bank of China, although this is expensive.
Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html
Mar 18th, 2004, 07:17 AM
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Hi
Yes, we found a ATM at the airport in March last year. We also had an ATM at our hotel and an ATM in the big Carrefour store next to the hotel. So we didn't have any problem getting a hold of cash
Regards
Gard
www.gardkarlsen.com
Yes, we found a ATM at the airport in March last year. We also had an ATM at our hotel and an ATM in the big Carrefour store next to the hotel. So we didn't have any problem getting a hold of cash
Regards
Gard
www.gardkarlsen.com
Mar 18th, 2004, 07:50 PM
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Carry lots of single dollar bills. Great for shopping.
The young ladies who worked the hotel reception desk in Xian were knowledgeable about Abraham Lincoln and they loved it when I handed them a few pennies.
One dollar, one dollar, one dollar...that's the only English most street vendors speak...or should i say YELL at you.
The young ladies who worked the hotel reception desk in Xian were knowledgeable about Abraham Lincoln and they loved it when I handed them a few pennies.
One dollar, one dollar, one dollar...that's the only English most street vendors speak...or should i say YELL at you.
Mar 18th, 2004, 08:33 PM
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Do NOT take one dollar bills unless you really desire to look like a dumb tourist. If you have vendors demanding dollars then you are in tourist-as-victim territory, and particularly tour-group-as-victim territory and you should be shopping elsewhere, because you will be extravagantly lied to and overcharged.
The legal currency in China is the RMB yuan and that is what you need to be carrying. Dealing in dollars, only possible in the places you shouldn't be shopping anyway, only reduces your bargaining power by making you work in units eight times larger than the local currency.
Even on black market exchanges at street level the mark-up over the official rate is far too slight to be worth the high risk of being short-changed or given fake bills. In purchasing souvenirs, etc. the request for dollars is indicative of an unscrupulous seller, not that you will get a better deal for using hard currency.
As has been said on this site before, at certain tourist sites the vendors are shouting 'One dollar' for the sale of a can of Coke, which some imagine to be a good deal. A can of Coke should cost Y2.5 to Y3 on the street--around $0.30.
Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html
The legal currency in China is the RMB yuan and that is what you need to be carrying. Dealing in dollars, only possible in the places you shouldn't be shopping anyway, only reduces your bargaining power by making you work in units eight times larger than the local currency.
Even on black market exchanges at street level the mark-up over the official rate is far too slight to be worth the high risk of being short-changed or given fake bills. In purchasing souvenirs, etc. the request for dollars is indicative of an unscrupulous seller, not that you will get a better deal for using hard currency.
As has been said on this site before, at certain tourist sites the vendors are shouting 'One dollar' for the sale of a can of Coke, which some imagine to be a good deal. A can of Coke should cost Y2.5 to Y3 on the street--around $0.30.
Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html
Apr 1st, 2004, 01:03 AM
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Well, now that I'm back, I'll post the answer to my own question--as we found it.
Easily found an ATM at the airport--however, it either wasn't the right kind (although the appropriate symbols were visible) or it was out of money.
Our hotel (Best Western on the 3rd Ring Road) noted that the nearest Bank of China with an ATM was at the China World Trade Center and kindly wrote that down for us in characters. We went there twice, but learned that we were limited to no more than 1000 RMB daily (by that bank, not ours).
We had not brought any traveler's checks as ATM's have always been so easy to find all over Europe, but this time we wished we had. Our hotel cashed American Express Traveler's Checks and/or American dollars for an even 8.2 exchange with no further charges.
Friends we were traveling with had brought lots of traveler's checks so they became our bank and we paid them back upon our return this morning.
We had hired a driver for an 8 hour day one day and he missed the turn off to the bank. He then took us to the bank in the area where all the embassies are. Guess what? No ATM. We just didn't see many at all.
Next time, I would bring more cash and traveler's checks just for the convenience. Hate to waste precious time looking for things like that.
The trip was extremely affordable, however, and we did not need that much money.
Easily found an ATM at the airport--however, it either wasn't the right kind (although the appropriate symbols were visible) or it was out of money.
Our hotel (Best Western on the 3rd Ring Road) noted that the nearest Bank of China with an ATM was at the China World Trade Center and kindly wrote that down for us in characters. We went there twice, but learned that we were limited to no more than 1000 RMB daily (by that bank, not ours).
We had not brought any traveler's checks as ATM's have always been so easy to find all over Europe, but this time we wished we had. Our hotel cashed American Express Traveler's Checks and/or American dollars for an even 8.2 exchange with no further charges.
Friends we were traveling with had brought lots of traveler's checks so they became our bank and we paid them back upon our return this morning.
We had hired a driver for an 8 hour day one day and he missed the turn off to the bank. He then took us to the bank in the area where all the embassies are. Guess what? No ATM. We just didn't see many at all.
Next time, I would bring more cash and traveler's checks just for the convenience. Hate to waste precious time looking for things like that.
The trip was extremely affordable, however, and we did not need that much money.
Apr 1st, 2004, 07:52 AM
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It would be a shame to see people discouraged altogether from using ATMs in China by the posting above, although it's always wise to have some cash to exchange as a fall-back.
As mentioned earlier, most card issuers offer a list of ATMS which will accept their cards on their Web sites (not that these are always complete or up to date), and those who prepare by taking the list should have little problem in Beijing. Concierges and hotel staff cannot be relied upon to know about ATMs.
There are four machines at the airport accepting foreign cards (I've tried out all four), and anyone standing at the southern end of the Wangfujing shopping street will be able to find (off the top of my head) six machines within five minutes' walk. Almost all major shopping malls and department store complexes in the centre of town have machines, which also dot areas with concentrations of expats.
For those encountering difficulties, there are two fall-backs in Beijing--a set of Citibank machines, and those of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, all up-and-running even when the Bank of China is having hiccups with your card type, with cash limits, or with its own software, taking just about any card ever thought of. These two banking locations are opposite each other on Dong Chang'an Jie, just east of the Wangfujing junction.
As with many other activities in Beijing, the point is not just to show up in Beijing and expect everything to work, but think ahead, look at the Web and look in your guide book, and top up your cash supply well before it is completely depleted. Certainly there are days when everything seems to stop working (except the Citibank/HSBC machines mentioned above), which is when a modest sum in foreign cash is needed to ease your way.
Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html
As mentioned earlier, most card issuers offer a list of ATMS which will accept their cards on their Web sites (not that these are always complete or up to date), and those who prepare by taking the list should have little problem in Beijing. Concierges and hotel staff cannot be relied upon to know about ATMs.
There are four machines at the airport accepting foreign cards (I've tried out all four), and anyone standing at the southern end of the Wangfujing shopping street will be able to find (off the top of my head) six machines within five minutes' walk. Almost all major shopping malls and department store complexes in the centre of town have machines, which also dot areas with concentrations of expats.
For those encountering difficulties, there are two fall-backs in Beijing--a set of Citibank machines, and those of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, all up-and-running even when the Bank of China is having hiccups with your card type, with cash limits, or with its own software, taking just about any card ever thought of. These two banking locations are opposite each other on Dong Chang'an Jie, just east of the Wangfujing junction.
As with many other activities in Beijing, the point is not just to show up in Beijing and expect everything to work, but think ahead, look at the Web and look in your guide book, and top up your cash supply well before it is completely depleted. Certainly there are days when everything seems to stop working (except the Citibank/HSBC machines mentioned above), which is when a modest sum in foreign cash is needed to ease your way.
Peter N-H
http://members.axion.net/~pnh/China.html
Apr 6th, 2004, 01:28 PM
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I just returned from Beijing also staying at the Best Western and I'd have to agree with pumpkin, the travellers checks were the most convenient and inexpensive method. I wish I had carried more, rather than just as a backup. I readily found a foreign ATM at the airport but declined to insert my card after watching it seize the card of the hapless tourist in front of me.
I was also a little surprised at how little credit cards were accepted, including nice restaurants, official CTS group tours and the ticket booth at the great wall at Mutianyu, all cash only.
Wally
I was also a little surprised at how little credit cards were accepted, including nice restaurants, official CTS group tours and the ticket booth at the great wall at Mutianyu, all cash only.
Wally
