Job Discussion Forums

[White Widow]

I have been working in Guangdong - Huizhou - for the last 4 months, and with the semester thankfully drawing to a close, I am beginnig to consider how best to convert my RMB into something I can actually use in the rest of the world. I am going back to America for a few months before returning again to China, so I would like to convert most of my RMB (I will have about 20,000) to USD. I was recently in HK for 24 hours, and unfortunately didn't have the time or wherewithall to pop into a bank and inquire about the new Yuan-to-HKD conversion rules. However, I *was* able to use my China Construction Bank ATM card at several ATM's in HK to withdraw HK Dollars. I assume that I get a much better conversion rate using an ATM than if I go to a bank to convert cash...right???

So, what do y'all think is the best way for me to fly out of HK in July with US dollars in my hand, having lost as little as possible in the exchange process? My options seem to be:

1. Withdraw my RMB from HK ATM's and then go to a bank to convert HKD to USD. That way, I only pay am exchnage fee once.

2. Go to the HK branch of the China Construction Bank (I *think* there is one) and withdraw my RMB balance directly in USD - is this possible????

3. Withdraw my RMB balance from HK ATM's, fly home with a big stack of HKD, and then despoit the HK dollars in my bank at home - is this possible?

Any advice about the best way for me to preserve my hard-earned cash would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Aaron

[Ludwig]

'White Widow', what do you mean by "the new Yuan-to-HKD conversion rules"? There are no new rules. It is just as it has been for many years; you simply go to any money changing facility. I think perhaps you may be confused with the new rules that allow us to now have Yuan accounts and credit cards here in HK.

You will not lose anything in "the exchange process" other than that imposed by differences in values of respective currencies. There are no exchange fees in licensed establishments. Just go to, say, the exchange kiosk at Kowloon Tong, immediately outside the street-level KCR exit (Hung Hom bound, of course). $100 normally costs between 105/110 Yuan.

It is possible to withdraw $US dollars if you have a $US current account; though, as I understand it, it is not yet possible to have such an account on the mainland.

You will have to check the current limit as regards the amount of hard Yuan that is allowed to leave the mainland when entering HK. It used to be as low as 6,000 Yuan per trip though this may have been increased by dint of the recent influx of mainlanders on individual travel permits, many of whom I seem to recall were complaining quite vocally in the media around this time last year that this limit should be raised. If you choose this route, it may well benefit you to have all your salary and tax documentation on hand. For, if called upon, you are, officially, required to be able to evince such documentation (remember you are limited to the percentage of your income that you are allowed to take out of the mainland).

If you plan to withdraw cash from an ATM in HK, beware of the daily limits. Some limits here are very low indeed (e.g., $10,000 a day) and might be even lower for a mainland-based account drawing in HK.

[clomper]

Aaron,

I don't know how much is the exchange rate of CCB for RMB-HKD. For any ATM withdrawal. They have a service fee and the exchange rate. I recently went to Macau and withdraw HKD300 on my ICBC ATM card and it was about HKD1.0=RMB1.08. Check with your bank about their service charge.

-- Search the forum how to change RMB-USD. There are a lot of inquiries about this. Summary: Either go to the main branch of Bank of China or ICBC with the required papers or via Black Market.

I read from another thread that the max to bring out of the country is Y6000. As for HKD accounts in your home country, ask your local bank.

Changing money in HKG is quite easy since there are a lot of money changer which will be glad to change your money. Around RMB1.07-1.10 for HKD1.0.. you have to check and scout different money changers.

For me, I plan to have my RMB changed to USD through my friend who has a USD account here in China through their company.

Claudine

[Roger]

The ceiling has been lifted from the previous RMB 6000 to the current RMB 20'000 per trip and person, though this modification concerns mainlanders; white folks have never, as far as I know, been molested by the exit control people on the Shenzhen side. Anyway, you would well fall into the category that carries the allowed maximum.

Now where can you change your loot in HK?
I advise you to abstain from going to the HSBC because they have a crazy set of fees that you are expected to foot: there is a limit of how much you can transact at any given time, there is a minimum you must have on your bank account if you don't want to be penalised, and Dog knows what else. It's mind-boggling and customer-unfriendly in the most extreme. As for money changing, they used to have a fee on top of their exchange rate, that applied uniformly to any amount.

You should get HK$ 94 for every RMB 100 (you can check the exchange rate in the Business section of the SCMP, last page, bottom).
These days, almost any shop in HK will accept RMB. There are reputable money changers (but avoid those on Nathan Rd., and Canton Rd. - too touristy ones pay as little as 70 dollars per 100 yuan!). You find a few decent ones inside Chungking Mansions and in Miramar Mansion, both in Nathan Rd.
A couple of months ago, I sauntered into a Causeway Bay Park'N Shopm and beholding a lovely Aussie Shiraz/Merlot for the astonishingly low price of HK$ 56, I asked a shopassistant whether the price was correct; it wasn't, and they wanted to charge me HK% 98. I insisted on buying it at the price misadvertised in yellow (though without a name to it), and they eventually relented; unfortunately, I didn't even have 20 dollars, but I had enough RMB - they accepted RMB and converted them into dollars, at the rate of 100 RMB for 94 dollars!

[Susie]

Why don't you change RMB (CNY) direct into USD direct? I mean by the time you change from RMB into HKD then into USD + service charges, KCR fares to HK, etc. you'll come out only slightly worse than if you exchanged RMB into USD direct. Or have I missed something?

www.Yahoo.com search "currency convert" gave :-

http://www.oanda.com/converter/classic
http://www.xe.com/ucc/convert.cgi


100 RMB --94.1522 HKD

94 HKD -- 12.0623 USD

compared with

100 RMB -- 12.0818 USD

[catweasle]

Last time I was in Hong Kong I used a money changer in Mong Kok....(lots of them). They told me it's illegal to change RMB to US dollars directly, but not illegal to change RMB into HK dollars. HK dollars are freely convertible, so first they change the RMBs to HK and then to US.
Can someone tell me if the same system works in the airport? I'll be going through in July with a pocket full of RMB and would rather not have to go to Kowloon just to change the pink stuff into green stuff.
As an extra bit of info, if anyone is going to Australia, they (Perth...dunno about the other cities) change RMBs overwith no problems. Go to the Thomas Cook counter before you leave the airport.

[White Widow]

Thanks for all the feedback, although I am a little confused. Most people seem to be saying that there *is* a fee for converting RMB->HK in the banks and kiosks, which is what I'd like to avoid/minimize. From what I have read online, it sounds like there is often no fee, per se, but that the banks and kiosks offer a REDUCED exchange rate that is, in effect, a fee.

I was hoping to find out if anyone knows what places offer the best exchange rates, as the places I saw on/around Nathan Road had TERRIBLE rates. I have been told that the Dao Heng Bank has the best rates and does not charge a comission - if anyone could confirm this, I'd appreciate it.

Bear in mind that I have a China Construction Bank account, which appears to have a mainland branch. Perhaps I will get a better rate by going there?

As for bringing hard currency over the border, I'm not too concerned about it, although the prospect of having 20,000RMB taped to my leg for 3 hours isn't too pleasant.

Also, if anyone knows what the ATM fee is in HK, I'd like to know. I'm aware that the ATM's do not charge a fee for HK customers, but when you withdraw HKD from an RMB account through an HK ATM it alerts you that you must pay a fee for going through "an international 3rd party" or something to that effect. I *assume* this is your standard fee of a few dollars, but if anyone knows different, please alert me.

Finally, does anyone know if it is possible to deposit foreign currency (eg. HKD) into a US bank account?

Thanks!

[Roger]

There are lots of moneychangers; you should get between HK$ 93-94 from one of those at
- Chungking Mansions (but not from one near the main entrance; seek
one farther inside, preferably an Indian one);
- Miramar Mansions: there are maybe two or three who offer a good
rate;
- over in CAUSEWAY BAY, you can change money in the pedestrianised
street between Yee Woo Street and Great George Street; it's
directly opposite the self-service HSBC;
- there are plenty in Mongkok too.

But, as Susie hinted, if you can convert your RMB into US dollars on the mainland LEGALLY, that would be preferable, of course.

[White Widow]

Thanks for the info. Next time I'm in HK I'll check it out.

With regards to changing it my RMB here, it seems like more trouble than it's worth. I've been told by my university that it'll take up to 30 days, which means I need to hand over the money now and, at the very least, I'll end up with my final month's salary plus my travel bonus still in RMB. That's almost half what I'll be taking home, so I'll still need to change it in HK anyway. I *might* think about dealing with that nice old lady outside the Bank of China with her big bag of HK dollars, but my experience is that most Chinese see me as an opportunity to rip off a stupid gweilou, and the last thing I want is to be arguing over a black-market-deal-gone-bad in front of the bank.

Someone suggested that I just go to the China Contruction Bank in Hong Kong and ask for a bank check droawn in HK Dollars from my CCB account. I don;t know for sure if I can do this, but if so then I can just deposit the check in my account at home in the US. Sure, it'll take about 2 weeks to clear, but I'll get the market exchange rate that way.

[oprah]

Here is my money story. In April I went to Canada with RMB to convert while in Hong Kong. For every 100 rmb I received 88 hong kong dollars. Then the Hong Kong dollars were converted to Canadian. This was done at the foreign exchange booth in the airport.
Did I loose alot of money by having to convert my money to hong kong dollars, or would I have been better off converting RMB into Canadian dollars at the bank in China?

[Susie]

I seem vaguely to recall an English-speaking bank teller ([email protected]) saying that the Bank of China in the Guangzhou Garden Hotel allows foreigners to open foreign currency accounts and then RMB can be exchanged into US dollars, etc.

People often change money at exchange bureaux at airports, are there any such places at Shenzhen airport or Baiyun Guangdong airports?


For some reason I think you would get a better exchange rate if you were to change RMB for USD while in China rather than taking RMB to the USA (or did someone say that it is illegal to take RMB to the USA?)

[White Widow]

Susie -

You cenrtainly *can* take RMB to America, but they have no value there at all. The RMB is a controlled currency and caanot be exchanged for anything else anywhere in the world, excpet Hong Kong.

Oprah -

I'm afraid you got a pretty bad rate. Right now the going rate is 94 Hong Kong dollars for every 100RMB. Of course, then you got the same bad rate A SECOND TIME when you changed the HKD into CDN. That is exactly what I am trying to avoid, especially since I will be exchanging roughly 20,000 RMB.

From what I am hearing, the best bet seems to be to change the RMB in HKD at one of the HK banks. The banks have the best rates. Then I'll get a bank check for the amount in HKD and deposit that check into my account in America. Yes, it will take about 2 weeks for the check to clear, but I will get the official exchange rate from HKD to USD with no fee or reduced rate.

If anyone has any better ideas, please thow 'em out here.

[Laoshi1950]

[As an extra bit of info, if anyone is going to Australia, they (Perth...dunno about the other cities) change RMBs over with no problems. Go to the Thomas Cook counter before you leave the airport.[/quote]


I have had the same experience as Catweasle.

In Brisbane, I have regularly exchanged RMB cash into Australian dollars at American Express Foreign Exchange Offices in the suburbs and downtown, and also at Travelex Centres at the International Airport and downtown.

However, the rate more accurately reflects the lower international market value of the Chinese Yuan, than the better exchange rates that you can get here on the mainland.

I exchange RMB at home in Brisbane because it is more convenient and is less time consuming than here in China.

[Roger]

Why such a long thread? Because people are so misinformed!

The RMB is not a CONVERTIBLE currency YET!
This means, you can only convert RMB's into any foreign currency if you have documentary proof that you bought an equivalent of RMB with foreign currency, or that you have been granted the privilege to change Chinese yuan into foreign currency by an authority, i.e. the BOC, due to being employed legally in China.

Of course, you can change some abroad - I personally saw RMB being used in the Philippines, Vietnam, Russia, Brussels - but I don't think those exchange rates are "reasonable"; rather they are market-driven, i.e. low demand, high offer of RMB = low exchange rate!

In HK, banks may offer the best exchange rate, but you must enquire first whether there is a fee upfront. As hinted before, the HSBC charges you HK$ 50 first thing before you can buy any foreign currency. Some moneychangers do offer you the same exchange rate (100 RMB = HK$ 94), but you have to shop around.

The very best solution is, of course, to buy US dollars while in the mainland - provided you are not afraid of the bank hassles (and you are legal, of course!).
BUT YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO BUY EUROS OR US DOLLARS INFORMALLY AT THE AIRPORT!

[ContemporaryDog]

My friend flew to Thailand in January and said he changed yuan into baht very easily there.