Originally Posted by DaileyB

Thanks for the useful replies.

I have several questions. One time about 10 years in the past, I received a check of about $12,000. However, the American bank wouldn't cash it because the Chinese bank had no correspondent relationship with the American banking sytem. (I might be using the wrong terminology) Has something changed or was I simply dealing with the wrong bank? [I seem to remember at the time it was difficult to find American banks that accepted transfers from Chinese banks -- maybe my memory is wrong]

It seems like if you have the bank routing number and account number, you are in pretty good shape as is the case in the US. Don't know what the Swift No. is, so if someone could explain, I would appreciate it.

Also, I am sure everyone realizes that $18,000 cash might not be much for China, but in the US that much cash can cause problems. The Vietnamese mother of a friend was recently traveling to Vietnam with $24,000 cash, and it was seized by the US government. I obviously want to avoid that problem.