Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Money Exchange in China

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Lizz	Apr 16th, 2001 09:32 PM

Money Exchange in China

Hello, Does anyone know of a website where I can print out a chart of some kind pretaining to money exchange? I get confused when doing money in other countries. Math was not my strong subject! I plan on taking mostly travelers checks and also a lot of $1 bills. I hear that is a good thing to do. Appreciate any help. What is the money called and what is the current exchange rate?

kang	Apr 17th, 2001 06:11 AM

Here is the message I posted a few days ago for another question: In Beijing(Chinese currency called Ren min bi): Cash(1 USD): 8.06~8.07 RMB Tr. Checks : 8.26~8.27 RMB with 3% service charge ATM card : 8.20RMB Cash in black Market: 8.44~8.45 RMB If you don't want to deal with black market dealers, then ATM card is your best tool. You can use your foreign bank issued cards in Beijing(there are quite a few machines at the airport), but outside Beijing, you are at the mercy of the machines. So if you plan to visit other places besides Beijing and Shanghai, you need to have USD cash or traveller's checks. I don't see why you'd need a lot of $1 bills, if you meant US$1 bills. Try the following site for current ex. rate information: http://quote.yahoo.com/m3

Laurel

Apr 17th, 2001 04:46 PM

Lizz, We were in China last year and I took a lot of $1 USD, they are extremely handy for tips, bottled water, postcards , inexpensive (fun) items that you may find to purchase while out and about. Infact, I only came home with $15 left, and taking the ones, was one of the best ideas I got from this forum--my husband laughed at me, because we had to divide them up as I had so many, but he soon came to realize just how handy they were! Enjoy China, we loved it!

Andrea

Apr 17th, 2001 05:54 PM

We got a great tip from my parents - before they leave for any trip, they create an index card (or a business-card size one) with "standard" prices in USD on the left and the foreign currency on the right on one side and the reverse order on the back. I've done this a few times and it works really well. For China, I would start with 50 cents, then $1, $2.50, $5, $8, $10, $15, $20, etc., etc. Then on the back, do 5 RMB, 10, 20, 25, 30, 50, 100, 150, 200, etc. You'll hear the money called "ren min bi" (like ren-min-bee), RMB (just the letters), kuai (kwhy, like "why" with a "k"), and kuai chin. I've used $1 when travelling in the Philippines, but have NEVER used them when travelling in China. It's fine and easy if you want to, but my only caution is that you'll end up paying slightly more for things. For example, a Coke should be 2.40 RMB, which is about 29 cents US. If you ask at a stand "How much?" and wave around a US dollar, I'm sure they'd be happy to take the dollar, but you've just paid 4 times the real price. No big deal, obviously, since it's just a dollar, but if you were waving around a 5 RMB note, they'd charge you the right price. Same thing with souveniers - you might see a Chairman Mao pin, which should be 15 RMB ($1.80). If you start the "bidding" in USD, they will probably start at $5, and you'll pay $3 and think you're getting a steal. Again, the difference is only US $1.20, but you can see how it could add up. Good luck!

kang	Apr 17th, 2001 07:27 PM

The problem with directly using USD in China is that, unlike many other countries, USD is not supposed to be in circulation for transactions. As a result of that, outside of the tourist business, most Chinese have no idea how much say US$1 really worth vs. RMB. It causes confusion and usually, YOU end up paying more than you need to. As for tipping in China, the services are not expecting tips. Of course that doesn't mean you don't sometimes want to show your appreciation by leaving some tips. If you do, it is far better to leave RMB than USD because they may not know the value of USD and they may even have trouble to spend it.

gayle

Apr 17th, 2001 07:58 PM

Just to add to Andrea's great idea about the business card with the currency exchange. I did the same thing for all the countries we visited in Europe but the easy way to do it is to go to the oando currency converter link below http://www.oanda.com/convert/cheatsheet and you'll see this is the cheatsheet link. Put in China on the table and your country of residence and press go, then it has an option of printing cheatsheet which you say yes and print. I then photocopied the printout at a reduced size (credit card size) and then laminated it for my wallet. Presto, no more exhaustion from calculating your souvenir bargains.

gayle

Apr 17th, 2001 07:58 PM

Gayle

Apr 17th, 2001 07:58 PM

gayle

Apr 17th, 2001 08:00 PM

Sorry, it kept coming back saying not working - ho hum, hate to nag.

Ishoo

Apr 20th, 2001 04:36 AM

Just about everyone in China accepted our dollars. Everyone also wanted tips. Capitalism is alive and well in China. Go to oanda.com for currency info. You can print out a neat cheat sheet.

sherwinlui

Apr 20th, 2001 07:34 AM

u can exch U$1>7.35HK$; 1HK$>1.02Yen if u call me & exch under 10000U$. it is safe & secure & much more than the local exch. confirm how much u want to exch. 1 billion i canot. suer. the ThomasCook is U$1>7.2; HK$8.25>U$1 i can also give u some tour info free. even in China tourist info. or u want a private guide / business guide call me.: [email protected]; [email protected] 852 96789123

sherwinlui

Apr 20th, 2001 07:43 AM

u can exch U$1>7.35HK$; 1HK$>1.02Yen if u call me & exch under 10000U$. it is safe & secure & much more than the local exch. confirm how much u want to exch. 1 billion I cannot. Sure. The rate is subject to change. the ThomasCook is U$1>7.2; HK$8.25>U$1 i can also give u some tour info free. even in China tourist info. or u want a private guide / business guide call me.: [email protected]; [email protected] 852 96789123

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