Money Questions

[tianhao]

Hey everyone! After quite a while reading through these forums, I’ve finally decided to register.

I’m moving to Chengdu this February to study a Degree for 4 years but my only real worry now is money. I wanted to ask you guys for your opinions and advice on the best way to bring money to China.

I’ve tried to open a HSBC account here in London, but the teller told me that the UK and Chinese branches differ from each other and I’ll still be liable to fees (What’s the point?). Bank of China said the same thing, but they have the option of transferring GBP to CNY.

I’m just a little lost on my options right now, I can only bring 20,000 CNY with me in cash. Would getting a traveller’s cheque and then opening a bank account be the best option? I would just like the cheapest option available really.

Thanks in advance!

[JerryS]

Just bring GBP with you. You can exchange it here easily and prob better rates too.

As for the banks, tell them you are going overseas and you need to unlock the card. This way you can use it in China without hounding NSA or some shit.

Carrying all that cash is dumb, just carry a few thousand RMB and rest in GBP. Enough to get you off your feet.

You can open a bank account in China easily, but what is your goal, do you want to send cash from China to UK? Or just someplace to house your money, then any bank should suffice. There are other ways to send money overseas, linking one account is difficult. HSBC is able to do it, but you need lots of money in order to do so. I had a friend in HK who was able to do this… He had upwards of over 1million HKD in his account, so he had special treatment.

[tianhao]

Basically, I’ve been saving up money the past year to fund myself for the first 3 years of my Degree, at least. I guess what my goal here was to have the added peace of mind of having everything in one account in China where it’s free for me to withdraw and deposit; in essence, to replicate what I have here in the UK.

I’ve got Internet banking sorted with my current bank so I could probably look at that option as well. Thanks though JerryS  🙂

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