harvey

My son is going to Woohan for a year or two and wants to have access to some money in addition to the Yahn he will be paid. I have read in at least one of the major guide books and I thought on this site that there aren't any ATMs in Woohan. Hard to believe. Any information would be helpful. Thanks.

rkkwan

Do you mean the central Chinese city of Wuhan? And the Chinese monetary unit is the "yuan".

Anyways, I can't believe there are no ATMs either.

harvey

Sorry. I meant to type Wuhan and yahn. The 2004 edition of Frommers China says that "Wuhan has no ATM machines that accept foreign cards", Since Wuhan is a large industrial center I would think business travelers would need ATMs. Does anyone have any info on this or other things about Wuhan that would be helpful. I know it is hot in the summer. Thanks.

Neil_Oz

Your son's bank should be able to tell you where his debit card can be used in China. No ATMs at all? Very hard to believe.

harvey

ATMs that accept foreign cards is the question. I found a Visa site that shows several ATM locations in Wuhan. I don't know if an ATM card or a VISA debit card would work. I don't like debit cards because they can be used just like a Visa card without a PIN number and come right out of your checking account.

I guess the best advice from the various posts on ATM v Travelers Checks is to keep a variety of funds on hand.

Does anyone have any more comments. I don't even use travelers checks when I am in Europe but rely on ATM and credit cards (I take two of each) exclusively.

Neil_Oz

Sorry, harvey - I did miss the distinction. Also, there may be some confusion over terms - here in Australia the term "debit card" is taken to mean a card used in ATMs and EFTPOS terminals that draws from your bank balance, and always requires entry of a 4-digit PIN. I haven't been to Wuhan, but in the cities we did visit we were able to withdraw cash from any Bank of China ATM using our ATM card and our regular PIN. The advice to use BoC came from our bank's website. In other countries we've just looked for an ATM bearing the Cirrus logo.

sunling

hi, i'm not from wuhan but i have lived here for 4 years. actually there are ATMs all over here in the shopping malls, banks, or post office so it's really nothing to worry about. considering if they are available to foreign cards, think it depends on what kind of cards you son is going to use. even if there would be any problem with the card, i'm sure your boy would be able to get help from the bank staff, alot of them could speak english,really not a big deal. remember wuhan is the 6th biggest city in china, not a small town. anyhow, think it's inevitable to encounter some difficulties to live in a totally different countries, and to solve them could really become an fantastic experience of life

jimdrew

Let's Go: China copyright 2005 lists Bank of China 593 Zhongshan Dadao, Hankou at Jianghan Lu. Phone 027-8283 5150. Hankou is listed as the center of commercial life in Wuhan.

I would suggest using multiple travel guide sources, I found Frommers to be a terrible resource for Xi'an, especially the map.

Bank of China is usually a sure bet, sometimes some of the other banks, but I've only experienced other banks in Beijing. In my experience, it's really rare that other banks (other than Bank of China) allow foreign cards withdraw from ATMs.