It must be possible: Getting $USD in Beijing!

[wfujkramer]

I'm going to travel central asia and seriously need to stock up on US dollars before I leave. I'm a US citizen, have US debit and credit cards, and otherwise, RMB. I was told it is absolutely impossible for me to get US dollars in beijing, as the only way to do it is if you have saved receipts for travelers checks you've "officially" converted in the past. which I don't.

I have US dollar based bank accounts... shouldn't there be a way for me to officially withdraw them in RMB and reconvert them to dollars? Does anybody know a better way? It's not possible to buy a US dollar travelers check in beijing, and then go through the conversion/reconversion process is it?

Thanks..

[Jonny Wang]

My bank account at Bank of China is a dual currency savings account, so I can deposit both RMB and USD. If I need USD, I wire transfer USD to my account from the U.S. and then withdraw it in USD from a Bank of China branch.

I think, but am not sure, that Bank of China is the only bank that can do this in China.

To withdraw USD, you have to show your passport (original) and supposedly also bring a copy to of your passport to leave with the bank (new regulation as of this year, but I find that it is applied inconsistently, at least here in Tianjin).

You'll need to get the SWIFT code of your particular Bank of China branch in order to wire money to them. They can provide you with this if you ask.

This certainly isn't a super fast or cheap option, but it works.

Also, in this day and age where ATMs are pretty much ubiquitous, at least in airports, why don't you just make an ATM withdrawal in whatever country you go to to get local cash? I would also imagine that most money exchange booths will accept international credit cards?

[roddy]

I believe (ie, check) that you should be able to make USD withdrawals with a US credit card - there are regulations about converting RMB to USD, but it the money is in USD it's not so much of a problem. However, the Bank of China seems to go into slow-motion whenever you ask them to do anything foreign currency related, and as this is probably a relatively rare procedure I wouldn't be surprised if you find yourself spending a day at the bank.

[gougou]

There used to be dealers around major banks that would exchange RMB to USD, for above-market rates, naturally.

Also, you could try and contact somebody coming to China soon from the States and ask them to bring USD with them, which you would exchange into RMB for them here.

[carlo]

It's not just BoC that can provide multicurrency accounts, most Chinese banks (and some foreign bank branches) do. You should even be able to buy foreign currency with RMB provided you can show your salary was paid in local currency and you are a foreign national -- I have done this at least once a couple of years ago. The easiest thing of course is to find a friendly American resident who is in the opposite situation as yourself, this way you don't get ripped off by the bank.

And those dealers that used to be there are still there. Every Chinese who works in a FIE knows at least one, so try asking your local friends.

[csit]

If your account is a dual account with dollars and RMB, then you can withdraw whatever dollars you put into it--whether locally, transferred in, etc. If you only have RMB in it, then you can't withdraw the RMB as dollars.

As a foreigners, the only way you can convert RMB to dollars yourself is if you have a notice in your foreign experts' certificate that allows you to convert a portion of your salary each month from RMB to dollars. I never did that, but seems possible.

***

Currently I am back in the states, but I visited China in June for three weeks and needed to covert about $3000 worth of RMB to dollars. It turns out that for Chinese it's easy to do. Each Chinese person is allowed to convert $20,000 worth of RMB per year to dollars. They just show their national ID card and it's recorded against their yearly amount. I went with a friend of mine to a Bank of China near the west gate of Beijing Jiaotong University and changed the money in a matter of minutes. I was surprised at how easy it was. You might call ahead and ask the branch whether they can do it--probably not all can--but it shouldn't be too hard to find one.