We greatly appreciate the way the seasoned folk here can cut through all the chaff to get us right to the wheat, so to speak.
Originally Posted by
moondog
1. I think he should pass on their smart phone offer. As long as his non-Chinese phone is unlocked, it should work fine in China as long as it is unlocked. By bringing his own phone, he can preload with apps before his trip
2. Getting HSBC accounts in your country and China might be a good idea because international transfers are pretty easy
3. However, he shouldn't have any problem getting an account at a local bank (with a much bigger footprint) on a long term visa
4. Personally, I use Schwab (because fees are close to nonexistent across the board) in conjunction with ICBC; I almost never have to visit ICBC branches in person, and the same is true with other big banks
5. I will note that some ICBC ATMs dislike foreign cards; whenever I encounter this issue, I simply find an ATM that works to withdraw from, and then go back to ICBC to deposit it in a CDM
6. I am not plugging ICBC over other Chinese banks; the criteria should be major bank, works with Wechat/Alipay based on passport numbers, and will actually give him an account
These days, do large Chinese unis typically have a student union-ish facility with shopping, food, and a bank branch or two?
Last time the phone they issued him was pretty good, from what I heard. No idea if it will be the same this time. (Different city, some unknowns right now.) It worked great for him locally but we tried texting it from our end and it never got through. We were good with that, however, because it allowed him to focus and not have to constantly deal with distractions from home. I'm pretty sure he got accustomed to leaving his iPhone in the host family's place when out and about, unless he was taking pictures. He uses a T-Mobile iPhone, which I believe has both CDMA and GSM radios it it, but regardless, it also worked well enough last time with the T-Mobile SIM card. I heard other kids with phones from different carriers had much less success with connectivity in Xi'an.
I guess we could try putting the issue phone's SIM into his iPhone, except for the aforementioned issue (being unable to contact his issue phone from outside China). His iPhone has not been unlocked yet, but I will definitely make sure it is unlocked and ready this time.
We appreciate the suggestion in re: Schwab and HSBC and will pursue that.
If he's going with a group plugged in enough to offer him a smartphone, then I suspect they'll be plugged in enough to be able to point him to a bank that'll open an account for him. So I wouldn'ty worry. Everyone knows that anyone spending time in China these days needs a bank account and access to Alipay/Wechat.
As for the phone, it's possible the phone they give him may work with a broader range of frequencies on data -- maybe 5G even -- so I wouldn't necessarily look that gift horse in the mouth.
I agree, and was thinking along the same lines, but saw no harm in asking proactively here.
He had a great time in Xi'an-- he said the food was great, and the Mandarin class was challenging-- and is really looking forward to returning.