How much spending money should I take for a 16 day trip to china?
- Tuesday Dec 29,2009 02:39 PM
- By diddy
- In Others
I’m going on a 16 day trip to china in october. We booked a tour that includes airfare, hotel and most of our food. How much spending money should we take? Can I use my debit card in china?
Please help with any useful info thanks!
What is the money difference in China, i know it worth more than US money but how much more?
Any tips will also be very helpful!
Airfare, Day Trip, Debit Card, Info Thanks, Money Tips, Spending Money, Trip To China
9 Comments
I have to disagree with both answers. They maybe right but I do not think so. I have been to China three times and am going back for the Spring Festival in 2010. I have always put my money in my bank account here in the US and then notify the bank of my intent to leave, the date of departure and the date of return. I then am able to use my debit card in China and do not take a chance of carrying large amounts of cash. I go to a bank in China inside the building so it is secured and safe to make my with drawls. I believe the cost was around $5 for each with drawl. I would with drawl about 3500 yuan each time I would go to the bank because of the with drawl fees and this would last me for quite some time. I paid my hotel, taxi, restaurant, gifts, everything I did I paid with this cash. Each time I go to China I spend around $1500, maybe a little more one time. My brother goes with me at the same time and he spends around the same thing. We share taxis much of the time and swap out on meals. A person could spend a lot more than what I spend but you could get by for less also. The key thing is to leave it in your bank and to notify them that you are going to China. Let them know when you will leave and when you will return. This way the card is good for this time period only. Also do all your transactions in a formal bank. I use the bank my fiance deals with but I do not remember the banks name. Again I would say do not carry more than spending money on the plane trip there and back.
Do not use your debit cart in china because of identity theft or anything else. Plus all the fees that the bank will charge on you. Get at least $1000 for activities and such. Also make sure you change your currency from US to whatever they have there from our banks here. The airport currency rates are horrible and you’ll lose money.
$16,000 USD should be enough.
sailor8 is 100% on the money
I have to disagree with the first two answers as well. Carrying too much cash is not a smart thing to do in China. Do what the third answer says, save your cash in your bank, and tell them that you’re going to use the cash overseas, they’ll tell you what you need to know.
Prepare enough cash for a few days and let’s just reckon the $5 withdrawal fee your insurance to avoid lost or theft. From our experience, an average tourist could spend about $100 a day in China (excluding hotel, air transport and excessive shopping).
You should go to more convincing Chinese banks to withdraw your money in local denominations (so you don’t have to exchange your dollar bills). Some of which are:
Bank of China ????
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ??????
Bank of Communication ????
China Citic Bank ????
Google them to get their logo and memorize or print them.
NEVER deal with illegal brokers or handlers. Better get a not-so-good rate at legit banks than receiving fake notes or get robbed.
Imho, you should prepare $2000 allowance (hey, you don’t have to spend all allowance right?).
1. Cards are very useful, because in the big cities they are accepted everywhere. That is if you own a Visa or Mastercard issued localy, by one of the Chinese banks. You may find though, that ‘foreign cards’ (aka those issued in other countries) will NOT be accepted by clerks in most cases. Traveller’s cheques are not easy to cash in, because you can’t do it in just any bank and because in many banks they are not very experienced with how it’s done, which usually means a long wait.
2. The best thing is to just bring cash and keep it in a safe in your hotel room when you’re out. The rate is 6.8 CNY or RMB (ren min bi, or, colloquially ‘kuai’) for 1 USD / 9.8 CNY for 1 EUR (you did’t mention where you’re from).
3. You don’t need more than 1,000 RMB on you when you’re out, this is about 150 USD or 100 EUR and pickpocketing problem is much less severe than it used to be. Just keep your cash close to you (in front pockets or jacket pockets with zippers) and you should be just fine.
4. Since your airfare, hotels and food are covered for, you should expect to spend most of your money on entrance tickets, which, for the living standard in China, are not cheap. In Beijing the Forbidden City is 60 RMB, the Temple of Heaven is 40, Lama Temple is 30, Beihai Park is 20, Summer Palace is 60, Great Wall is 80 and so on. Sure, cheaper than in the US or Europe, but still not cheap. In Shanghai, to go to the top of buildings such as Shanghai World Financial Center, Oriental Pearl Tower or Jin Mao Tower it costs about 120 to 150 RMB for the elevator ride. To see the Terracotta Army in Xian, it costs 90 RMB and so on. Hong Kong can also be expensive, not sure where exactly you’re going. Food is not expensive, in McDonald’s a pre-set menu (a combo) is around 22 RMB, KFC is similar - 19 RMB, in Chinese restaurants you should expect to pay about 40 to 70 RMB per person per meal, then you have more expensive choices, like Beijing Duck (100 RMB for one), Pizza Hut (around 100 RMB per person), Brazilian BBQ (140 RMB per person) and so on. In all, for 16 days, if you’re planning to have a regular vacation with some shopping and souvenirs, but don’t plan to go nuts on buying all sorts of gadgets and clothes, I’d say $1,500 should be more than enough, that’s 10,215 RMB, 640 RMB per day. Oh, and remember, that money can only be exchanged in banks and hotels, though banks don’t change on weekends and in a hotel they will only change it if you’re actually staying there. So, usually it’s better to get all the weekend money ready on Friday. Plus, remember than prices at the airports and in hotels are ridiculously high and don’t buy anything there unless you really have to.
5. When you shop for souvenirs and clothes, always haggle (unless it’s a shopping mall or modern shop with all prices fixed and written down very officially). Some of the prices are:
A set of 10 postcards - 20 RMB
A stamp for a postcard being sent abroad - 6 RMB
A T-shirt - 40 to 120 RMB
A pair of jeans - 110 to 150 RMB
A sweater - 60 to 150 RMB
A tie - 10 to 20 RMB
A pair of underware - 10 to 20 RMB
A laptop bag - 150 RMB
A suitcase (mid-sized) - 150 RMB
An MP3-player - 150 RMB
A USB key (4G) - 100 RMB
Cameras and laptops have similar prices as in other countries, not worth buying them in China, better to do it back home where you will have full local customer services afterwards. Mobile phones should not be bought, since many of them are coded and will not work in other countries.
6. Late September and early October are the best time to travel, cause the weather is nice in most places, shorts and T-shirts with one or two sweaters should be enough, but it starts getting a bit cooler in late October, so you definitely need trousers and a jacket if that’s when you’re going.
US$1 = approx Rmb 6.8. Dont bring too much cash with you, department stores and big shops accept credit cards.
Excluding hotels and most of the meals, around US$100 a day should be more than enough. Taxis are very cheap in China, US$2-3 per ride will take you to most inner city shoppings and sight-seeings. The current exchange is around $1 to RMB 6.83. Most entrance fees to major historic sites are under US$20 per person. Local shops arent expensive BUT you have to be courageous to slash their prices by at least three quarters or even more. If you’re going to Hong Kong this trip, I’ld suggest you leave all your shopping there. Shops are more honest in Hong Kong, no need to spend strenous efforts to bargain and yet still get ripped-off.
Depend on your spending habits. If you don’t plan on buy anything to bring back, $1000 should be more than enough for just 16 days if not including hotel nor airfare.
I would suggest to use traveler’s checks, and to cash them one at a time when you get there. Pickpockets are quite common in big cities. Foreigners are targeted 100x more often.
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