Travel in China and keep the money in a bank account

Do you know that as a foreigner in China, it is very easy for you to open a bank account? If you want to travel to China, especially for quite some time, you may need to carry not a small amount of money. Then you should consider opening a bank account in China so that you can deposit and withdraw money whenever and wherever you want. You don’t need to always carry a large stack of bank notes or traveler checks.

Just go to any branch of the big banks and show your passport and China visa, fill out some forms, and you will have a China bank account.

You will be issued a bank passbook when you open the bank account. If you want a bank card to withdraw money, which you should do, you can have one upon payment of 10RMB (with Bank of China). And you will be given a pin number for accessing your account with the card.

In other words, it is free to open a bank account in China. But if you want to have a bank card to use the ATM machine, you will have to pay RMB10 or so.

However, beware of the traps and tricks. Say, if you open a bank account with Bank of China in Guangdong province, it is perfectly free for you to deposit or withdraw money inside the province. However, if you want to use an ATM machine of Bank of China in another province, each time you will need to pay 10RMB. If you deposit money over the bank counter, you will need to pay a higher charge of 40RMB or so.