The China Megathread III: It is not a happy everyday

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Pro-PRC Laowai: Sep 30, 2004; by toby

SB35 posted:

You can probably just go to an ATM and check your balance if you remember the PIN. Unless you had monthly fees on your account or something you maybe be lucky and have accrued a few mao worth of interest on whatever you had left in there.

Pro-PRC, care to chime in? I'll be in this situation with BoC or ICBC next time I'm come to the mainland.

Well, hopefully there is internet banking setup. Also, what's the plan to move the money in? All you should need is the right name, account#, swift code to move cash in from overseas and then exchange it once you're in-country. If you lack any of that, you'll want to call up customer support to have them check the info for you.

For the best rates and minimal fuckery, always use a BoC account. Everyone else is just an intermediary, meaning it'll take longer, you'll get a slightly worse rate, and might get hit with a service charge on top of it (not much, but it's still annoying).

# ? Oct 9, 2013 18:08

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# ? May 14, 2024 18:20

Ailumao: Nov 4, 2004

Is BoC as an intermediary true if you're using something like HSBC or Citi? Also why do all the richie rich people I know all use Merchant's Bank with dual currency accounts if this is the case?

# ? Oct 10, 2013 02:00

Pro-PRC Laowai: Sep 30, 2004; by toby

Magna Kaser posted:

Is BoC as an intermediary true if you're using something like HSBC or Citi? Also why do all the richie rich people I know all use Merchant's Bank with dual currency accounts if this is the case?

HSBC is worth it IF the following holds true:
You have premier account status at HSBC with a large enough balance to not have fees.
You shuffle a bunch of money into China as USD
You take out the USD as USD, not RMB
The USD is then deposited as cash into another account at BoC
The USD from secondary account is then transferred over to the primary account at BoC.

That gets you the electronic rate, which is much better than the cash rate. But you'll be doing a bit of running around and waiting in line. You can exchange directly at HSBC, but you'll be taking a hit on the exchange rate.

Merchants... been there, done that, they'll want like an extra $5 or more processing fee and give a slightly worse rate than BoC, might have gotten a bit better recently, but that's my experience. The rates listed on the sites are more "theoretical" than real apart from BoC, it's more of a reference than anything else, with the real spreads sometimes less favorable based on branch policy.

HSBC: http://www.hsbc.com.cn/1/2/misc-cn/exchange-rates
BoC: http://www.boc.cn/sourcedb/whpj/
CMB: http://fx.cmbchina.com/hq/
Citi: http://www.citibank.com.cn/CNGCB/aptc/cngcb/rates/InitializeFXRate.do
ICBC: http://www.icbc.com.cn/icbc/%E9%87%...89%8C%E4%BB%B7/

It's all gonna go through PBoC at some point unless you exchange on the street. Cash rates on the streets tend to be better than the bank cash rates, but worse than the electronic rates, however there is always some risk assumed in doing it that way.

Even if things have massively changed recently, I personally prefer to deal with as few intermediaries as possible. My BoC wires tend to pop though from the US in about an hour or two.

If wires ain't your thing, there's always the D/D route to explore. Probably best to hit up your local BoC branch for one... I have zero experience how it works for deposits IN China though, works great for moving cash out of China.

edit: Ignore that thing about D/D, it takes loving forever to clear here. Stick to T/T.

edit2: Best way I have found for moving cash via wire from the US is to open an online account at HSBC. The fee is like $30, and can be initiated online without any bullshit. Some smaller banks might *claim* to have lower fees, but.. there's always bullshit involved and they tend not to disclose the intermediary fees (which jack it up considerably). Also, despite my loathing for HSBC as a corporation, the main advantage they provide is the whole no-fee ACH transfers both incoming and outgoing... which makes moving cash around fairly painless.

Pro-PRC Laowai fucked around with this message at 08:26 on Oct 10, 2013

# ? Oct 10, 2013 07:32

SB35: Jul 6, 2007; Move along folks, nothing to see here.

Magna Kaser posted:

Is BoC as an intermediary true if you're using something like HSBC or Citi? Also why do all the richie rich people I know all use Merchant's Bank with dual currency accounts if this is the case?

I do have several friends (Chinese) that have credit cards through CMB and they always get really great deals at 5 star hotels & restaurants.

Talking like buy one get one free 188 RMB meal if paying with CMB credit card, and you can do it every single week.

# ? Oct 10, 2013 14:57

fart simpson: Jul 2, 2005; DEATH TO AMERICA

SB35 posted:

I do have several friends (Chinese) that have credit cards through CMB and they always get really great deals at 5 star hotels & restaurants.

Talking like buy one get one free 188 RMB meal if paying with CMB credit card, and you can do it every single week.

You can also get entry to airport lounges if you have one of these cards, I think.

# ? Oct 10, 2013 15:08

Impotence: Nov 8, 2010; Lipstick Apathy

This is probably a bit weird but I couldn't figure out where else to ask -- is there any way I can buy some stuff (<$5ish) one time from Taobao with Paypal? Are there exchanges that handle this? I don't read or write chinese and wouldn't mind paying a fee for it (and to ask the seller a question to double check), if anyone had recommendations.

It's a virtual item though, not shipped.

# ? Oct 11, 2013 01:24

Ailumao: Nov 4, 2004

Biowarfare posted:

This is probably a bit weird but I couldn't figure out where else to ask -- is there any way I can buy some stuff (<$5ish) one time from Taobao with Paypal? Are there exchanges that handle this? I don't read or write chinese and wouldn't mind paying a fee for it (and to ask the seller a question to double check), if anyone had recommendations.

It's a virtual item though, not shipped.

No paypal on taobao, you could find someone you trust or a willing goon to buy it for you and PayPal them.

# ? Oct 11, 2013 02:00

Aero737: Apr 30, 2006

Search for Taobao agents. They are a kind of middle man to get things from taobao to the west.

# ? Oct 11, 2013 03:09

DontAskKant: Aug 13, 2011; (USER WAS PUT ON PROBATION FOR THINKING ABOUT THIS POST)

Someone you trust OR a goon haha

# ? Oct 11, 2013 04:23

Impotence: Nov 8, 2010; Lipstick Apathy

Aero737 posted:

Search for Taobao agents. They are a kind of middle man to get things from taobao to the west.

Tried a couple, they don't want to deal with virtual items. It's small value, and just a text file pretty much.

# ? Oct 11, 2013 06:02

caberham: Mar 18, 2009; by Smythe; Grimey Drawer

I'm not exactly sure if/how my Chinese ATM card works, how much is your virtual item? Why don't you just buy OPPAI mouse pads like the rest of us?

Or you can ask a random goon here

# ? Oct 11, 2013 06:24

vanity slug: Jul 20, 2010

You can just use a credit card, you know. The option is well hidden, but it's there.

# ? Oct 11, 2013 06:35

Ailumao: Nov 4, 2004

Jeoh posted:

You can just use a credit card, you know. The option is well hidden, but it's there.

But it needs to be a Unionpay card or otherwise affiliated with a Chinese bank. I doubt anyone outside of China has a unionpay credit card.

# ? Oct 11, 2013 10:29

Pro-PRC Laowai: Sep 30, 2004; by toby

Magna Kaser posted:

But it needs to be a Unionpay card or otherwise affiliated with a Chinese bank. I doubt anyone outside of China has a unionpay credit card.

http://help.alipay.com/lab/help_detail.htm?help_id=212244&keyword=%B9%FA%BC%CA%BF%A8

# ? Oct 11, 2013 10:37

vanity slug: Jul 20, 2010

Magna Kaser posted:

But it needs to be a Unionpay card or otherwise affiliated with a Chinese bank. I doubt anyone outside of China has a unionpay credit card.

My MasterCards worked fine. Comrade PPL just posted instructions, praise be upon his visionary leadership.

# ? Oct 11, 2013 11:21

Sogol: Apr 11, 2013; Galileo's Finger

I found this amusing. It's one of those things that shows the gap between planning and execution in China.

http://gizmodo.com/china-accidentally-built-an-apartment-complex-in-the-mi-1442963266

# ? Oct 12, 2013 00:37

Woodsy Owl: Oct 27, 2004

Is there any suggestion for anti-virus or malware protection that can detect the Chinese crap? For a few days now, on both of my PCs and in different browsers, when navigating to different URLs I get some stupid add for a 2D Chinese flash game or some stupid poo poo. The ad comes from p.ecwan77.com, for what it's worth. I have NOD32, Windows Security Essentials, and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware but they can't seem to detect anything. I changed my DNS to the Google public DNS but this doesn't seem to clear it up. It seems if I mouse-over the ad that the page will forward to the original URL I tried to navigate to. Any ideas what the gently caress is going on?

edit: Doesn't seem to occur inside an SSH tunnel.

edit2: This is the code for the page that comes up.

code:

<html lang="en">
<head>
	<meta charset="utf-8">
	<title></title>	
	<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="zh-CN" />
	<meta name="Keywords" content="" />
	<meta name="Description" content="" />
	<style type="text/css">
	* {margin:0;padding:0;}
	.fsy {position:fixed;bottom:0;right:0;_position:absolute;width:300px;height:300px;}
	</style>
</head>
<body>
<div class="fsy">
<embed width="300" height="300" src="http://kwcdn.ggmm777.com/swfs/ab/15970dntksp/300X300.swf"
quality="high" wmode="transparent" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" title="" />
</div>
<div style="display:none;">
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://js.tongji.linezing.com/3327316/tongji.js"></script><noscript>
<a href="http://www.linezing.com"><img src="http://img.tongji.linezing.com/3327316/tongji.gif"/></a></noscript>
</div>
</body>
</html>

Woodsy Owl fucked around with this message at 11:54 on Oct 12, 2013

# ? Oct 12, 2013 11:20

BadAstronaut: Sep 15, 2004

Sogol posted:

I found this amusing. It's one of those things that shows the gap between planning and execution in China.

http://gizmodo.com/china-accidentally-built-an-apartment-complex-in-the-mi-1442963266

I like how they refer to China as a singular entity. Just... the whole of China did that.

# ? Oct 12, 2013 11:26

Calyn: Sep 3, 2011

Woodsy Owl posted:

Is there any suggestion for anti-virus or malware protection that can detect the Chinese crap? For a few days now, on both of my PCs and in different browsers, when navigating to different URLs I get some stupid add for a 2D Chinese flash game or some stupid poo poo. The ad comes from p.ecwan77.com, for what it's worth. I have NOD32, Windows Security Essentials, and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware but they can't seem to detect anything. I changed my DNS to the Google public DNS but this doesn't seem to clear it up. It seems if I mouse-over the ad that the page will forward to the original URL I tried to navigate to. Any ideas what the gently caress is going on?

edit: Doesn't seem to occur inside an SSH tunnel.

Might be your ISP injecting those ads? Do you have a phone or other device you can test it on if you connect over your WLAN, and without?

# ? Oct 12, 2013 12:56

ReindeerF: Apr 20, 2002; Rubber Dinghy Rapids Bro

Woodsy Owl posted:

Is there any suggestion for anti-virus or malware protection that can detect the Chinese crap? For a few days now, on both of my PCs and in different browsers, when navigating to different URLs I get some stupid add for a 2D Chinese flash game or some stupid poo poo. The ad comes from p.ecwan77.com, for what it's worth. I have NOD32, Windows Security Essentials, and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware but they can't seem to detect anything. I changed my DNS to the Google public DNS but this doesn't seem to clear it up. It seems if I mouse-over the ad that the page will forward to the original URL I tried to navigate to. Any ideas what the gently caress is going on?

We have this going on in Thailand too. I pretty quickly decided it was an ISP-level hack of DNS or something and it turns out that, while they won't acknowledge it, it was. I just used a VPN for a week and change until they fixed it. Nothing else to be done. They fixed it eventually.

# ? Oct 12, 2013 13:06

Woodsy Owl: Oct 27, 2004

ReindeerF posted:

We have this going on in Thailand too. I pretty quickly decided it was an ISP-level hack of DNS or something and it turns out that, while they won't acknowledge it, it was. I just used a VPN for a week and change until they fixed it. Nothing else to be done. They fixed it eventually.

Is it the same Chinese ad of the 2D hack-and-slash flash game? If you refresh the page then it will actually go to the intended destination? Do you suspect it to be hijacking banking data when I buy poo poo from TaoBao?

Yeah that was my suspicion as well. Out of paranoia I ran a scan of Windows Security Essentials, NOD32, ComboFix, RKill, and HijackThis. I came up with jack poo poo. If I disable DNS forwarding on the SSH tunnel then I'd probably get the ads again.

What a hack, man. gently caress.

# ? Oct 12, 2013 13:24

VideoTapir: Oct 18, 2005; He'll tire eventually.

ReindeerF posted:

We have this going on in Thailand too. I pretty quickly decided it was an ISP-level hack of DNS or something and it turns out that, while they won't acknowledge it, it was. I just used a VPN for a week and change until they fixed it. Nothing else to be done. They fixed it eventually.

I had that happen in the US, with Cox Cable. And they denied it, too. That seems to be a pattern with this bullshit.

# ? Oct 12, 2013 13:24

Woodsy Owl: Oct 27, 2004

VideoTapir posted:

I had that happen in the US, with Cox Cable. And they denied it, too. That seems to be a pattern with this bullshit.

loving hell. I think my ISP is China Unicom, and I think I'm routed through Zhengzhou first. Is anyone else getting this crap on China Unicom?

Strangly enough, this poo poo isn't happening on my iPod Touch over wifi using the same internet connection.

# ? Oct 12, 2013 13:28

fart simpson: Jul 2, 2005; DEATH TO AMERICA

Woodsy Owl posted:

loving hell. I think my ISP is China Unicom, and I think I'm routed through Zhengzhou first. Is anyone else getting this crap on China Unicom?

Strangly enough, this poo poo isn't happening on my iPod Touch over wifi using the same internet connection.

Yeah I think sometimes ISPs here inject ads. I'm on China Telecom and if I turn off my VPN I get occasional China Telecom popup ads similar to what you're describing.

# ? Oct 12, 2013 13:49

Woodsy Owl: Oct 27, 2004

MeramJert posted:

Yeah I think sometimes ISPs here inject ads. I'm on China Telecom and if I turn off my VPN I get occasional China Telecom popup ads similar to what you're describing.

What's so strange is that the ad isn't even for anything good, as far as I can tell. Scratch that, it's good at pissing me right the gently caress off.

# ? Oct 12, 2013 14:04

VideoTapir: Oct 18, 2005; He'll tire eventually.

Woodsy Owl posted:

loving hell. I think my ISP is China Unicom, and I think I'm routed through Zhengzhou first. Is anyone else getting this crap on China Unicom?

I have been getting injected ads from China Unicom. I don't think they're the same as yours, though.

# ? Oct 12, 2013 14:08

Woodsy Owl: Oct 27, 2004

VideoTapir posted:

I have been getting injected ads from China Unicom. I don't think they're the same as yours, though.

Perhaps it varies by region or something. Mine are hijacking such that the page returned is just blank, white, and has the ad in the corner. And then sometimes it will redirect to the intended destination URL. I'm relatively certain this is server-side. It isn't consistent and I haven't been able to detect jack poo poo on my end. Not to mention, the problem is resolved when I tunnel through SSH.

edit: I've booted up an Ubuntu LiveCD and I still get the same ads. It must be server-side. Hopefully they'll fix it in a reasonable frame of time (ha!).

Woodsy Owl fucked around with this message at 15:23 on Oct 12, 2013

# ? Oct 12, 2013 14:27

ReindeerF: Apr 20, 2002; Rubber Dinghy Rapids Bro

Woodsy Owl posted:

Is it the same Chinese ad of the 2D hack-and-slash flash game? If you refresh the page then it will actually go to the intended destination? Do you suspect it to be hijacking banking data when I buy poo poo from TaoBao?

Ours is forex poo poo. It's basically affiliate scammers up to their usual tricks, but they're running out of options as search algos and bayesian filters improve. Concept's the same, though. If you google something like forex redirect true thailand you'll find some entries on it (most of them confused and claiming a virus at first, but eventually figuring it out).

# ? Oct 12, 2013 21:43

Tom Smykowski: Jan 27, 2005; What the hell is wrong with you people?

I let a Chinese friend use my computer for like 20 minutes now I have some weird Conduit search engine set as my default because of something he downloaded and I can't get rid of the drat thing.

Also :siren:

CHENGDUGOONS :siren:

, lets for real get Tibetan this coming weekend. With the holiday stuff the times didn't match up this weekend. When's good for everyone? Friday? Saturday? We could go to the same place as last time or try a new one, either way it'll be in the same area. We can meet at Wuhouci and then go from there.

# ? Oct 13, 2013 13:31

fart simpson: Jul 2, 2005; DEATH TO AMERICA

Tom Smykowski posted:

I let a Chinese friend use my computer for like 20 minutes now I have some weird Conduit search engine set as my default because of something he downloaded and I can't get rid of the drat thing.

This happened to me as well and I had to manually remove a bunch of stuff from about :config in Firefox

# ? Oct 13, 2013 13:49

Aero737: Apr 30, 2006

Woodsy Owl posted:

loving hell. I think my ISP is China Unicom, and I think I'm routed through Zhengzhou first. Is anyone else getting this crap on China Unicom?

Strangly enough, this poo poo isn't happening on my iPod Touch over wifi using the same internet connection.

Yeah, I'm in Beijing on Unicom and sometimes I'm routed through Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, and loving Xi'An. The good thing is that if I renew my lease, I always get a new IP and chances are a better location.

# ? Oct 14, 2013 04:45

Smeef: Aug 15, 2003; I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!; Pillbug

Tom Smykowski posted:

I let a Chinese friend use my computer for like 20 minutes now I have some weird Conduit search engine set as my default because of something he downloaded and I can't get rid of the drat thing.

Also CHENGDUGOONS , lets for real get Tibetan this coming weekend. With the holiday stuff the times didn't match up this weekend. When's good for everyone? Friday? Saturday? We could go to the same place as last time or try a new one, either way it'll be in the same area. We can meet at Wuhouci and then go from there.

I can do either but would strongly prefer Friday.

# ? Oct 14, 2013 05:42

Trammel: Dec 31, 2007; .

danse macabre posted:

I have a Bank of China UnionPay debit card that I used while I was last living in China. I am going back for a month and still have the card but no details about my account. I've been to Bank of China in Sydney but apparently it's not connected to the mainland.

Anybody know how I can find my bank details based on my debit card. After that, is it possible to put some more money on my account without incurring horrendous fees?

Australia has a Citibank VISA debit card, which allows for fee-free withdrawals at electronic rates worldwide. You can transfer cash to it from any Australian bank account fee-free, and then withdraw in China from ATMs that take visa. That works really well for moving cash in to China.

The 28 degrees credit-card used to perform a similar function, but they're adding international cash advance fees as of 1st Jan 2014.

# ? Oct 15, 2013 03:36

stubinator: Sep 24, 2013

Any recommendation for a sub $200/night room in HK? I'm assuming Central is the place to be, but we're only there for 2 nights so convenience is a high concern.

I might PM caberham, since he seems most knowledgeable on HK.

# ? Oct 15, 2013 20:49

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

You might check out the Harbor Plaza Metropolis. It's got a pretty good location in East Tsim Sha Tsui and goes between $150-200 a night.

I'm not as familiar with the island side but stuff around Central/Wanchai/Causeway Bay, unless it's a hostel type situation, is probably gonna be well over $200 a night.

Holiday Inn Express Soho looks like it's got $170-200 if you wanna be on the island side. That's not far from Sheung Wan station.

# ? Oct 16, 2013 03:56

Rabelais D: Dec 11, 2012; ts'u nnu k'u k'o t'khye:
A demon doth defecate at thy door

21 Whitfield near Tin Hau is more like a serviced apartment style hotel, but it's island side with absolutely amazing views of Central and Victoria Harbour, very modern and spotlessly clean (opened last year) and when I stayed it only cost HKD 1300 or so. Downside is that there's no breakfast, but you get a great fully equipped kitchen so you can make your own.

# ? Oct 16, 2013 04:40

Tom Smykowski: Jan 27, 2005; What the hell is wrong with you people?

Smeef posted:

I can do either but would strongly prefer Friday.

Alright, how's this sound to Chengdu goonfolk: meet at 7pm on Friday at Wuhouci?

We can meet in front by the ticket booth or the ancient street or that big rock thing, whatever. Then we can walk down the street into the Tibetan neighborhood and eat yak pie / yak ribs / yak baozi / yak powder??? and so on.

# ? Oct 16, 2013 13:13

Arglebargle III: Feb 21, 2006

I like it.

# ? Oct 16, 2013 13:19

Tom Smykowski: Jan 27, 2005; What the hell is wrong with you people?

Good, I figured if you saw the plan now, you could pack your bags up and catch the next passing caravan into the city. If you leave now you might make 3rd Ring Road by sunset tomorrow.

# ? Oct 16, 2013 13:24

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# ? May 14, 2024 18:20

caberham: Mar 18, 2009; by Smythe; Grimey Drawer

Oh forgot to post here , Beijing goon meet Friday 630pm, kros nest san li tun. Everyone welcome!
I use to root for hanting all seasons but I ran out of luck... oh well

# ? Oct 17, 2013 18:06

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > The China Megathread III: It is not a happy everyday

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