Traveler's Checks in China

[danier11]

I have recently bought some traveler's checks at the bank because I plan to stay in Beijing for 5 months. While I was signing them, a guy said that it will be difficult to use those in China. Is using traveler's checks in China inconvenient. Does anyone know who will accept these checks besides banks?d

[Jockster]

As far as I know, you can only cash them in a bank in China. I cashed mine (Thomas Cook) in the Bank of Communications. The company you bought them from should be able to help you out - I remember I got a list of banks, complete with addresses, where I could cash my cheques (in Hangzhou).

[galaygobi]

A bit of a hassle..

Friends of mine recently came with AMEX travellers cheques in Canadian dollars. Could only cash them in at Bank of China, and only on weekdays.

[Jonny Wang]

The concept of paying with anything but cash is pretty foreign in China, outside of 3+ star hotels and the big, western-style supermarkets. Traveler's checks, debit cards, credit cards won't do you much good except as a means to get cash from a bank or ATM.

Remember with traveler's checks you'll need to sign them (the 2nd signature) in the presence of the banker.

[imron]

And remember you'll need to sign them exactly as you've signed your passport. I had a friend who'd signed his passport as "First Name, Middle Initial, Surname", but when he signed his traveller's cheques, he only signed "First Name, Surname". This caused all sorts of problems for him when trying to get the cheques cashed, as the signatures "weren't the same".

[teachinator]

I'm about to go to Beijing Language University and I was going to bring traveler's checks to pay for the tuition. They say that's one of the payment methods. Cash is another, but carrying near US$1000 in cash does not sound like a good idea to me. Will BLCU take the traveler's checks? Is it better to bring only enough to pay the exact tuition, and get money from ATMs or use credit cards for all over purchases? I had no trouble using credit cards when I was in Beijing earlier this year.

[Lu]

The bank inside BLCU cashes traveller cheques, so you could bring cheques, go to bank and change them, then pay the tuition.

[amandagmu]

Two summers in China have taught me to rely on ATMs for money withdrawals. Highly convenient and better exchange rate (at least, through my credit union).

This is a cash society. I only used my credit card once the entire time this summer and it was at the only American restaurant in Dalian. In Beijing last summer there were more places you could use it at..... but in Dalian I couldn't even use the credit card at the biggest bookstore in town or Carrefour (JiaLeFu) and other so-called western-style places.

My advice is not to rely on your traveller's checks beyond the initial tuition payment (assuming BLCU does take them). I used a credit card to pay my BLCU tuition last summer because I couldn't withdraw enough money from the ATM in one day. They charged me a 4% credit card transaction fee for doing that.

~Amanda