Money Matters in China

[englishaffairs]

what they are talking about there - and i have never known anyone to do this, is that schools will usually have on their contract like the ad says- that up to 70 percent of your monthly pay can be paid to you in your home currency at the current rate. So like if you need to send cash back home every month, this would save you the fee of buying Australian dollars or whatever at the bank. you following me on this -
but like I said, i have never known anyone to do this personally, as most teachers i know just want RMB to use here.

As for opening an account that is up to you. But it is so easy, and also convenient to have a local account - you might as well. you just need your passport and it takes a few minutes.

I have mine at Bank of China.

I get paid cash in hand (rmb) every month. As i think i mentioned before, i dont even have an account back home anymore, and just use the one i have here.

relax bro, i respect the fact that you are researching before you dive into this, but the most important thing is just find a decent contract for your initial job. I would try to keep the work hours around 15 to 20 max a week, make sure they do your visa, give ya a place to live - and then after ya get settled you can always bail if you find things are not as promised.

I have not been on many contracts here honestly, and often dont work full time. you can work part time and make just as much or more, and as for visas, they are available too. And rent, i pay 1000 a month for a decent 2 bedroom apartment. but then, this is shenyang and not shanghai - it will be more expensive down there.

chances are, you will find a better job after a few months of arriving anyway.

i been up all night tryin to get my own site put together a bit, so gotta crash bro. i be around later - come visit my forum sometime, its so dead over there, but no reason ya cant post on both.

EA

hope this helps,

[kdavid]

Great info here. My want to update some of the information here. For example, as of right now the current exchange rate from RMB to USD is 7.6 RMB to 1 USD. Updates on this can be found at xe.com.

[Hypiereon]

As of today . . .

1 USD = 7.81920 Hong Kong Dollars
1 USD = 7.57311 Chinese RMB

Looks like my previous thoughts of using HKD as a benchmark were completely off altogether. This downward trend in the value of Chinese RMB could continue for a while it seems.

Anyone with an idea where it will stop (please include a logical reason why) let me know!

[gfell]

Everything occurs in cycles, and I'm having the same trouble with the depreciation of the Japanese Yen compared to the Australian Dollar. Best advice would be to hold onto your money until the rates get better - if you can afford it that is and have no loan repayments back home.

[restless]

Just a note from downunder (while i'm still here )

most of the financial papers/press think the Aussie$ will stay high, mainly coz of weak US$. So it is hard to say when this cycle will turn. Aus$ was 0.45 cents of the US$ not so long ago, and if interest rates keep going up so will our dollar,

[kdavid]

I could've sworn that I saw an article about the US wanting China to get the rate down to 7:1 (RMB to USD); it was originally 8:1 before the start of the New Year.

[Eline76]

The following website might be useful:
MyAsiaChannel - Chinese counterfeit money

There's an example of counterfeit Chinese money and quick guide to learn how to detect it.