Originally Posted by
jiejie
I also wasn't clear on what currency the cash is in, but I don't see where it matters. If it's in USD in some sort of format similar to a US-style Certificate of Deposit, it's not a big deal for Chinese to cash it and convert it to RMB then open a regular account with that. The other aspect I'm not clear on, is whose name is on the "Bill of Exchange." I had assumed it was one of the Chinese relatives.
Since the OP wants USD, if it's already in USD, pulling out the cash would be my favored approach (assuming the bank is flummoxed by the wire thing). While flying with 18k in cash might make some people nervous, many people travel with much larger amounts every day.