charcbb

Hello!

I am going to China this summer and plan to change abour 1000 euros into yuan for the trip. I am also doing short trips to Macao (1 day) and Hong Kong (3 days).

I always have problems with where to exchange money, as it's always a bit confusing and was wondering what is the best option to do it. I live in France, where there's mainly Travelex or Global Cash that operate. My flight leaves from London but I don't think changing into UK pounds and then into Chinese yuan will be the most cost effective option. As a general rule, where is is best to change money? Should I order it online from Travelex and pick it up before leaving from France? Should I go to a couple of banks and ask for their exchange rates? Or maybe I should just take my euros with me and exchange them in China (or HK and Macao)?

What do you recommend doing for HK and Macao? Take euros and exchange there or take the money exchanged from home? Or maybe change it in China?

Thanks in advance for your advice! This is proving confusing

Rampo

In my experience you will almost always get the best exchange rate in your destination country. My advice is to wait until you arrive in China.

SFO777

Welcome to FT.
The easiest and cheapest (best rate) way is to get local currency from an ATM at your arrival airport. HKG certainly has them post-customs. Even if some airports don't have ATMs, they always have currency exchanges where you can convert enough to get you by until you can use a local ATM. Agree with Rampo that destination currency exchanges generally give you the best rate.

obscure2k

Welcome to Flyertalk, charcbb
Please continue to follow this discussion in the FT China Forum.
Thanks..
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

Blue Tiger

If you want to exchange money physically it needs to be in excellent condition.In March many of my 100 USD bills were rejected. They said the banks would not accept them at the hotel- too dirty.
ATM are much more user friendly then they were 5 years ago.Some even have English and Chinese directions. If you use an ATM have a Chinese person guide you. Euro are just like dollars, easily to exchange .Some hotels will only exchange hard cash, no travelers checks.ATM give you the best exchange rate normally.

moondog

Forex machines tend not to be so picky about cleanliness. But, in general, it's not necessary or smart to bring cash to China (as long as you have several ATM cards).

jiejie

I partially disagree with the above, as I am a practitioner of method redundancies. And I take comfort in having a certain amount of hard cash for at least part of the trip expenses. So, I would bring your cash Euros and change in China (also HKG or Macau). Bring what you are comfortable with and use a money belt under your clothes for excess. Make sure your notes (100's probably best) are crisp, clean, and unmarked. I will agree that an ATM card that works on one of the international systems is also adviseable to bring. ATM's are user friendly and most begin with your selection of language preference (no need for a Chinese "to guide you"). Also a credit card for emergencies or if you will be travelling to other places beyond China that are more credit-card oriented.

Upon arrival, have Euro 100 handy to change at one of the bank counters in the airport arrival hall, that will get you started. Make sure you get plenty of RMB 10 and 20 notes, not just 50's and 100's. Once in town, you can do further exchanges at most major bank branches, also at hotels (but rates will not be favorable). Gov't sets bank exchange rates so there will be little variation. HKG is a completely different country for currency purposes and uses HK dollars not Chinese yuan, though excess yuan is changeable in HKG at good rates. Macau uses pataca or HK dollars, try to just use HKD there. You don't need to exchange your entire wad of Euros upfront. At end of your trip, get rid of all Yuan as it will not be easy to exchange directly for Euro once outside the region, at least not at good rates for small amounts. HKD is convertible so not a problem, though my guess is that rates for re-exchange will be better in Asia.

HKtraveller

If you enter from Hong Kong, go through Luo Hu. At the departure level there are 2 change shops that give ok rates. In Macau and in Hong Kong you need to know exactly where to go.

Example rates as per yesterday for cash (RMB per 100 HK$)
HSBC in China for cash: 86.53
HSBC in China for TT: 87.05
Changer in Luo Hu departure level: 86.80
Berlin Exchange Hong Kong: 86.50
The best place in Macau: 86.53
all for a volume of 10000 HK$ (about 1000 Euros)

ATMs even have charges of 1% for local cards if you use them at the same bank in another city.
You can change back an amount of up to the equivalent of 500 USD even into Euros at a bank for the rate corresponding to 87.42

The limit of RMB to be carried in/out of China is 20000.
The limit of Forex to be carried in/out of China without declaration: the equivalent of USD 5000.

charcbb

Thanks everyone for this info! It seems the two main methods are to take the money in euros with me and exchange every 2 or 3 days and taking cash out directly from a China ATM. However, my debit card charges me 2.3% of commission when withdrawing money abroad and 2.3% of commision + 1 euro for each payment I do directly with the card. I guess then I would need to take all the euros with me or withdraw money every 2-3 days as well?

moondog

You might want to pick up some travelers checks then. Safer than carrying cash and better exchange rate. Also, I often exchange at hotels.

HowieG

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If RMB is you want, it's better to do it in China.
Any Bank will do, not the shady guys outside a Bank, though.
Alterntively, if it's 1000 Euro, can also do it at the airport arrival, they will wave the fee for that amount.

bdesmond

Just curious, how long are you planning to stay in China? Are you thinking of paying for lodging with cash too or is the 1000EUR purely getting around/day-to-day money?

You're not going to find a whole lot of practical opportunity to buy anything with the debit card so I wouldn't worry about that.

moondog

I'm surprised that EU banks don't offer good credit cards for international travel like Schwab yet (in light of all of the high tech products they have). Even if they don't, there must be a better solution than 2.3%; does BofA have a presence in Europe?

In the absence of additional info, I stand by the traveler's check plan, primitive as it is.

jamar

BofA? If it's about the withdrawal deal they have with CCB, it's not just them that participates. For example, in France BNP Paribas participates too. Surely if you don't have an account with them already applying for an account now wouldn't be too late to get a debit card for use in China?

(or see if your local Travelex office offers a UnionPay Cash Passport denominated in RMB; not as a primary method but as something to have just in case your primary method doesn't work out; like how apparently I've hit some mystical limit at BofA and my card now no longer works in China)

moondog

On a recent trip, BofA actually did lock down my account. To make matters worse, when I called to get it back on line, I was unable to answer one of their questions (something obscure and specific about historical transactions, iirc), which in turn meant that I needed to fax them several times in order to get back online (i.e. they took away the phone option completely).