Originally Posted by HKtraveller
Until now it is not possible yet. They are planning for the end of this year,
but depend on Chinese government rules.
You can easily get an atm card with an account in HK and withdraw money in China. If you really need a chinese ATM, Bank of CHina is good. Money transfers from any bank in HK to BOC Shanghai take less than 2 days if you send HK Dollars. US Dollars take a bit longer. (Between HSBC HK and HSBC Shanghai HK$ take a couple of hours while US$ take 2 days.
HKtraveller
For those of us that are familiar with living in the Americas or Europe where lfe is regularly put on credit, China is much more a cash society - at least for now. In the tourist areas, VISA, AMEX etc. etc. are all regularly accepted. But get off the beaten track just a little and I find that even local cards are not always accepted. It's cash or no sale.
Now that I've got used to it, I kind of like it this way. And I can see how this can be mighty inconvenient for travellers as opposed to people resident in the country.