Maestro debit cards in Beijing

[flibblesan]

Hello

When I was in Zhengzhou last year, I could use my UK issued debit card to obtain money from cash machines in Guandong Development Bank ATMs. My UK bank told me I could only use this bank in China.

Do any other bank ATMs accept foreign Maestro cards for withdrawel? Any banks in Beijing that are good for this?

Also, how difficult is it for me to get a Chinese bank account?

[gougou]

I had success at more than one bank already, I think more accept Maestro than don't (sorry, can't remember which ones as I've switched to another card by now).

However, I never had problems getting money (save for the evening where I needed to get 400 dollars to pay for a flight ticket, as the limit for most banks is somewhere around 200, and there seemed to be some (Chinese) weekly limits on the card as well)

Bank accounts are discussed here and here.