Yuan on the rise. (wich isn't good for travelers) HELP

[Genova]

hey people.

I am moving in 3 weeks to BJ carrying 7000 euro.

And back luck for me, the Yuan is on the rise (so less yuan for my 7000 euro's)

At my point of calculating the trip's price the yuan was 1:11 or 1:10,5 something.

Not it's 1:9,78 or something.

I just hope it wont rise any further....

Any tips.

Can I open a bank account in China as foreigner? (So dump my money on this while it's still ok....)

or just go, and hope for the best???

Really like to hear from you on this.

Thanks

Rob.

EDIT:

http://nl.exchange-rates.org/history/CNY/EUR/G/M Click here to see the last month's Yuan course.

http://nl.exchange-rates.org/history/USD/EUR/G/M Click here to see the last month's Dollar course.

As most of us know (right... ) the Yuan is coupled to the Dollar, and i'm probably worried over nothing. The graph shows that dollar/yuan will decrease gradually, just the odd month out.

Edited December 30, 2009 at 02:35 PM by Genova

[Daan]

I don't think you could open one from abroad, but if you're worried about the currency appreciating, why don't you exchange at least some of the money in the Netherlands? Also, you might want to check with Chinese and EU customs agencies whether it would actually be allowed for you to carry that much money through customs. Personally, I would just leave the lion's share of those 7000 euros in my Dutch bank account and withdraw money from ATMs in Beijing as the need arises. That tends to be cheaper than paying the exchange fees, and there's plenty of ATMs where you can use your Dutch debit card.

[roddy]

I'd assume this is for an initial tuition / rent payment, so using ATMs might not give access to the cash quick enough.

[gougou]

When did you plan your trip? I don't think the exchange rate has been over (or even close to) 10.5 in the last 18 months, so your losses might be less than you thought.

If it's an important issue to you, you could always hedge your foreign exchange risk. It's been a while since business school, but I think when expecting a rising RMB, you could to that by buying call options on the RMB.

However, I think you should worry less about money and more about enjoying your trip. A trip for that amount of money should be quite an experience even if you actually were forced to cut it short a bit for lack of funds.

[krisfish]

7000 Euro will make a very comfortable living for you in Beijing.

[Genova]

1 EUR = 9.7954 CNY at point of writing, so another increase of the Yuan.

Well I been to BJ last summer (say august ' 09)

And if I remember correctly the price was around 1:10,5 ish...

Now I know the chinese goverment keeps the Yuan low on purpouse, (roughly 1:10) with a 0,3 marge, or was it a 0,03 marge. I forgot.

So I hope that if it gets to strong they will take action.

I know it's not much yet.

But at the current rate I am "lost" 150 euro's roughly.

I mean, well it's only 150 euros... but still..... that's 150 euro's hahaha.

Do you expect the Yuan to go down soon?

[gougou]

If it was at 9.78 before and is at 9.795 now, that's actually a decrease in value.

You're right though that the government is interested in keeping the value of the RMB down, so I wouldn't expect any major appreciation in the near future - especially given that it is at quite a high level already.

Alternatively, you could consider a vacation in the US - your money's worth a lot there!

[anwenjie]

Are you sure it was the rmb was that strong this summer? When I went in June I remember it being about the same as now, if not even a little bit stronger. I can't say if the rmb becomes weaker or not. I doubt if anyone here can. Exchange rates fluctuates and there's not much to do about it. True, the Chinese government have been known to regulate the rmb, but that's not something I would count on. However, it seems pretty stable to me, I would be surprised if it suddenly got a lot stronger. You could take out more money of course, but do you really want to carry a lot of money with you to China?

I think the real key is how you spend your money whilst in China. Whether you spend 35元 or 15元 (or less) on a beer if you go out, depending on where you go. Whether you stick to cheap Chinese dishes most of the time or whether you eat a lot of western food. Whether you regularly take the subway instead of a taxi. etc. etc

[tortue]

November 19 I took money from an ATM, the rate was 10,155. One day later the Bank Of China gave me a rate of 9.838 on changing cash. It is not the first time that being abroad I find getting the best rates out of an ATM.

By the way, as of December 18, the "ATM rate" (which is actually the rate my home bank applies) dropped to 9,761 - so it can fluctuate quickly.

I don't know how's banking in the Netherlands, but my german bank issues a Visa card with no ATM withdrawal fee worldwide. You should look around if you can't find that, it's *really* handy.

Besides that, you should know that the ATMs I have seen so far had a limit of 2000, 2500 or 3000 RMB per withdrawal.

Opening a bank account is easy, BoC charged me only a couple of yuan, first year no handling fee (and after that not much), you get your ATM card right away. You just need your Passport (and should be able to write your address, be it yourself or a friend : ). If I were you I'd do that anyway to avoid carrying that amount of money with me all the time...

Edited December 30, 2009 at 10:43 AM by tortue

[roddy]

You just need your Passport and police registration.

Was the police registration slip essential? In the past it's always just been a passport.

[skylee]

why don't you exchange at least some of the money in the Netherlands?

Is it possible? I am not sure if you can get RMB abroad.

[adrianlondon]

How has the yuan exchange rate changed against the US$? It usually tracks that within a close band, so you could transfer some Euros to Dollars if you wanted to hedge a little bit.

You shouldn't need anything more than a passport to open a bank account - at least that's how it was way back in 2006.

Using an ATM gives a better exchange rate than the banks, especially for us Europeans who don't usually have to pay to use an ATM, unlike Americans who always seem to get charged.

I used Sterling travellers cheques and I got an excellent exchange rate with those (well, compared to cash) so if you need lots of RMB quickly I'd suggest some sterling, dollar or euro travellers cheques which you can exchange in one go (passport needed) at a bank to pay for initial rent, fees etc.

[anwenjie]

My bank (and I think any Danish bank) puts a 30 DKK (4 Euro) fee on any money withdrawal in China. Other European banks don't?

[tortue]

Was the police registration slip essential? In the past it's always just been a passport.

I thought it had been when I wrote that, but now I realize that I actually registered after opening the account

Thanks for pointing that out, stupid me creating confusion about such things...

I'll edit my post

[tortue]

My bank (and I think any Danish bank) puts a 30 DKK (4 Euro) fee on any money withdrawal in China. Other European banks don't

In Germany there are a couple that don't, but by far not all (I could name only two). They are kind of online banks.

[adrianlondon]

Most UK banks charge for foreign transactions by altering the exchange rate by a small amount (around 1%-2%) but don't charge extra for individual ATM transactions. This exchange rate "loading" covers the charge that Visa/whoever charges for foreign transactions.

The Nationwide used to be totally free of charges but rather than make a loss they now charge the 1% fee in the exchange rate too, for any purchases/withdrawals outside of Europe. In other words, withdrawing 100y from an ATM and spending 100y on a credit card both work out costing exactly the same. And the exchange rate, with the 1% fee, is still going to be better than exchanging cash at a bank, as the visa bank-to-bank exchange rate is much better.

But do look into travellers cheques for quick cash.

[roddy]

Is it possible? I am not sure if you can get RMB abroad.

You can, but often you'll have to order it, and you are unlikely to get a decent rate.

I thought it had been when I wrote that, but now I realize that I actually registered after opening the account

No problem.

[Genova]

^^

True, it is possible to order foreign currency, but this costs money (roughly 7 euro, that's about 70 yuan roughly)

AND, you also get shitty exchange rate... So I am not to fond of doing this...

Thanks for all the replies on this subject.

I am however wondering, you all say that opening a bank account, you only need a passport. But I don't have a chinese passport, just Chinese visum for 180 day's. So they probably wont let me then.

Then im going to order a visa this week.

And visum's dint have the withdrawal cost so to say..?

[roddy]

Any passport will be ok, doesn't need to be Chinese.

[Genova]

Ok thanks, good to know. I'le do this then!!

EDIT:

http://nl.exchange-rates.org/history/CNY/EUR/G/M Click here to see the last month's Yuan course.

http://nl.exchange-rates.org/history/USD/EUR/G/M Click here to see the last month's Dollar course.

As most of us know (right... ) the Yuan is coupled to the Dollar, and i'm probably worried over nothing. The graph shows that dollar/yuan will decrease gradually, just the odd month out.

See this, intresting read imo

Ps. It's in dutch, but looking at the charts, you'le get the general idea haha