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Thanks again! Will let you know once it is all done and update the thread.
Yes a couple of things are in my favour now for bringing money back this way, the RMB value and the fact that I assume most car salesmen will be looking to up their CNY bonus/pay so there may be more deals to be had.
Will see what happens to the Chinese stock market tomorrow, it’s been shut early today after a 7% drop…. Note entirely surprising but the speed of it on the first day back of trading is a worrying picture.
Thanks Charlie. I assumed this would be the case but then someone mentioned the receiving banks charge between 7% and 8% of the total money transferred?! That’s significant….
I have a colleague trying to find out from the bank but as always with the bank getting a straightforward answer is more difficult than it should be.
Just to add, I got my license last year and it is pretty much exactly as Gary states. I was also able to get my motorbike license and driving license on the same day by just passing the one test.
To anyone thinking about it then my advice would be to use one of the resources listed above (I used chinesedrivingtest.com) even if it is to get used to the Chinglish. It’s relatively easy and totally worth getting your license here. Hiring a car is easy enough if you don’t want to buy and will save you the maintenance after you have been out on the roads in the mountains!
Good luck!
They have a branch on Yongkang Lu in Shanghai. Decent little cocktail bar with reasonable prices. Only had a few drinks there but I’d say not far behind the drinks I had in Whispers (near the Consulate) and Nico’s Bar (Master Building) if you are looking for a cocktails type of place. Cheaper than both those too.
Still some of the best cocktails in Sichuan are to be had in Flavour Lounge in Chongqing but you can’t be heading there every week. Still the best cocktail place I have found in China, great atmosphere, decoration and Jimmy the maestro is a genuine pleasure to be around.
Also if it’s not a cocktail lounge in particular you are after you can’t go wrong at The Lazy Pug. Great drinks, free poured, tasty food and great company….. I miss Chengdu!
Thanks Guys! Appreciate it!
Apologies for the delay in response, I have pretty much been travelling since I posted.
I took some time to visit and an agent took us around some apartments to get an idea. Most were around the lake in the SIP which I quite liked, couldn’t get over how clean it was and how organised the roads and traffic seemed to be. However the flip side to that is there’s a bit of a lack of that China feeling. No street food vendors or random fruit and veg shops – They all seemed to be replaced with these community areas which are large, organised and missing the general feeling you can get going to pick up bits from all the indepentent places around your home. Also in the SIP it felt there was very little if any hole in the wall restaurants, we’d definitely miss that. In saying that I had some meetings to attend so we didn’t have too much time exploring and virtually no time in the old town which is where I’d assume we can get the more local restaurants, street food and other things which can make China so unique.
There seems to be a lot to cater for expats in and around the SIP though, especially those who wan’t to socialise and eat like they do back home. Lots of western bars certainly. Makes sense as there also seems to be many more foreigners living in Suzhou.
All in I’m looking forward to it but will really, really miss Chengdu.
