Tips: clothing/ATM
 

A week in Shanghai. Please advise me on what clothing I should take for business in August. Suits? Khakis/Sport Coat? Khakis/Dress Shirt?

Also, I always use ATMs when traveling in Europe. Do Westerners typically have the same convenience, or should I take Am Express traveler's cheques?

Any other tips welcome...I've never been to this part of the world. Much thanks in advance.

Casual business clothes like at home. Bank of China ATMs take US bank cards. They are everywhere in Shanghai. A few other of the large banks also take the cards. Also, most likely your hotel will have an ATM in the lobby that works. I would not carry travelors checks. Just make sure you get a decent amount of money when you take money out as you dont want to be caught without any as you may spend a lot of money of stuff you find on the streets. It is easier to use a bankcard in China than Tokyo. 100 times easier.

Dress code: depends on the occasion. For factory tour, Khakis/shirt is fine; for meetings and semi-formal dinners, khakis/sport coat would do it, unless they are high level/important meetings. Also depends on your conunterparts. Managers from MNCs tend to dress up more than local Chinese business men.

Agree with last poster on ATMs. Also most hotels and high-end shopping malls accept foreign credit cards.

just another big yes on ATM's. I actually just read an account of recents travelers finding that TC are a bit of hassle to use now

I had a horrible experience with travellers cheques when I took a trip to Shanghai 2 years ago. Spare yourself the trouble and use an ATM card or credit card at an ATM machine. There are ATM machines everywhere in Shanghai, literally a bank on every corner. Just be sure not to lose the card.