Traveller's Cheques

Various guide books, including Lonely Planet seem to still be recommending
that we take traveller's cheques to China, I think partly because of the
lack of ATMs in rural parts of the country. Our itinerary includes Beijing,
Pingyao, keifang, X'ian, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Do people recommend taking
cheques or should we be able to get by on ATMs and Visa?

xiv

In article , louis
xiv says...
Various guide books, including Lonely Planet seem to still be recommending
that we take traveller's cheques to China, I think partly because of the
lack of ATMs in rural parts of the country. Our itinerary includes Beijing,
Pingyao, keifang, X'ian, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Do people recommend taking
cheques or should we be able to get by on ATMs and Visa?

I did this trip:
http://www.molon.de/travelogues/China/2004/

without traveller cheques, relying on a bank card to get cash from ATMs.
No problem getting cash, even in the smaller places.
--

Alfred Molon

http://www.molon.de/Galleries.htm - Photos from China, Myanmar, Brunei,
Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Egypt, Germany, Austria,
Prague, Budapest, Singapore and Portugal

Alfred Molon wrote:
louis xiv says...
Various guide books, including Lonely Planet seem to still be recommending
that we take traveller's cheques to China, I think partly because of the
lack of ATMs in rural parts of the country. Our itinerary includes Beijing,
Pingyao, keifang, X'ian, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Do people recommend taking
cheques or should we be able to get by on ATMs and Visa?

I did this trip:
http://www.molon.de/travelogues/China/2004/

without traveller cheques, relying on a bank card to get cash from ATMs.
No problem getting cash, even in the smaller places.

I've had similar experience. Not every tiny town has an ATM, but as long as
you make sure you fill your wallet up each time you see a machine, it
shouldn't be a problem.

My card only worked in Bank of China machines but those are by far the most
numerous. Note that Bank of China is not the same as Agricultural Bank of
China or Industrial Bank of China or Mah Jong Bank of China.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 36 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu
Latest photos: Queens Day in Amsterdam; the Grand Canyon; Amman, Jordan

We did take some TCs; but they weren't really needed. Bank of China ATMs
usually take foreign cards. TCs give a slightly better rate of exchange than
cash!! Foreign cash (from some 16 countries - USD, AUD, CAD, EUR , JPY, HKD,
SGD etc) is also easily changed at Bank of China branches or most Tourist
Hotels!



"louis xiv" wrote in message
o.uk...
Various guide books, including Lonely Planet seem to still be recommending
that we take traveller's cheques to China, I think partly because of the
lack of ATMs in rural parts of the country. Our itinerary includes
Beijing, Pingyao, keifang, X'ian, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Do people
recommend taking cheques or should we be able to get by on ATMs and Visa?

xiv

On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 00:42:47 +0200, Alfred Molon wrote:

In article , louis
xiv says...
Various guide books, including Lonely Planet seem to still be recommending
that we take traveller's cheques to China, I think partly because of the
lack of ATMs in rural parts of the country. Our itinerary includes Beijing,
Pingyao, keifang, X'ian, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Do people recommend taking
cheques or should we be able to get by on ATMs and Visa?

I did this trip:
http://www.molon.de/travelogues/China/2004/

without traveller cheques, relying on a bank card to get cash from ATMs.
No problem getting cash, even in the smaller places.

Disagree, If you go to remote places, or smaller towns in Western Sichuan
do take enough cash (RMB) with you.
Do not rely on ATMS (or even money changing).

louis xiv wrote:
Various guide books, including Lonely Planet seem to still be recommending
that we take traveller's cheques to China, I think partly because of the
lack of ATMs in rural parts of the country. Our itinerary includes Beijing,
Pingyao, keifang, X'ian, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Do people recommend taking
cheques or should we be able to get by on ATMs and Visa?

You'd have trouble cashing TC's too at some of the more remote places.



xiv

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 16:36:30 GMT, "louis xiv"
wrote:

Various guide books, including Lonely Planet seem to still be recommending
that we take traveller's cheques to China, I think partly because of the
lack of ATMs in rural parts of the country. Our itinerary includes Beijing,
Pingyao, keifang, X'ian, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Do people recommend taking
cheques or should we be able to get by on ATMs and Visa?

These web sites are quite useful for finding out which locations have
ATM connected to the Visa and MasterCard networks.

http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/...SearchPage.jsp

http://www.mastercard.com/atmlocator/index.jsp

Chris

louis xiv wrote:
Various guide books, including Lonely Planet seem to still be
recommending that we take traveller's cheques to China, I think
partly because of the lack of ATMs in rural parts of the country. Our
itinerary includes Beijing, Pingyao, keifang, X'ian, Hangzhou and
Shanghai. Do people recommend taking cheques or should we be able to
get by on ATMs and Visa?
xiv


Really no need to take traveller's cheques with you
Cash, that's what you need.
All the cities you mention have lot of ATM's
And you can change money in every hotel.
Cash, make sure you have cash.
I allways used a thin almost invisible belly wallet.
No-one can see it under my t-shirt.

On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 17:19:33 +0800, Chris Blunt wrote:

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 16:36:30 GMT, "louis xiv"
wrote:

Various guide books, including Lonely Planet seem to still be recommending
that we take traveller's cheques to China, I think partly because of the
lack of ATMs in rural parts of the country. Our itinerary includes Beijing,
Pingyao, keifang, X'ian, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Do people recommend taking
cheques or should we be able to get by on ATMs and Visa?

These web sites are quite useful for finding out which locations have
ATM connected to the Visa and MasterCard networks.

http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/...SearchPage.jsp

http://www.mastercard.com/atmlocator/index.jsp

Chris

Tell me are you the presenter of bizChina, anyway I entered numerous cities
in China on the Visa search and no ATMS were located, just as I had
experienced.
Better stick to the old way of cash in RMB when travelling to
remoter parts.
My friend works for an NGO in Western Sichuan.
A whole group of U.S. students did not change their U.S.$ before coming
into the remote areas, they were caught without cash in the mountains for 4
days. Do not make the mistake if you are alone.

On Mon, 1 Aug 2005 08:07:36 +0700, concise
wrote:

On Sun, 31 Jul 2005 17:19:33 +0800, Chris Blunt wrote:

On Sat, 30 Jul 2005 16:36:30 GMT, "louis xiv"
wrote:

Various guide books, including Lonely Planet seem to still be recommending
that we take traveller's cheques to China, I think partly because of the
lack of ATMs in rural parts of the country. Our itinerary includes Beijing,
Pingyao, keifang, X'ian, Hangzhou and Shanghai. Do people recommend taking
cheques or should we be able to get by on ATMs and Visa?

These web sites are quite useful for finding out which locations have
ATM connected to the Visa and MasterCard networks.

http://visa.via.infonow.net/locator/...SearchPage.jsp

http://www.mastercard.com/atmlocator/index.jsp

Chris

Tell me are you the presenter of bizChina, anyway I entered numerous cities
in China on the Visa search and no ATMS were located, just as I had
experienced.

I can't think what it is you're doing wrong. I tried with the cities
you listed above and got the following results with the Visa ATM
locator:

Shanghai: 100 machines
Xian: 77 machines
Hangzhou: 29 machines
Kaifeng: none

Chris