Shanghai Living: Tips for packing, must do/see, beware

[PsyGuy]

@Basmad6

Your credit union probably lied to you, or at least didnt tell you the whole truth and story. The problem is credit unions usually (mostly) do not have international routing numbers. There are two types: IBAN (International Bank Account Number) and SWIFT. Your credit union likely uses an ABA (American Bankers Association) routing number. This only works in the US. When your overseas bank wants to wire funds to your credit union they look up the receivers information and since it doesnt have an IBAN or SWIFT code that information is going to identify a bank that does have an IBAN or SWIFT code, and that bank is going to act as "clearing house" or intermediary for your transaction. Your China Bank sends it too this intermediary Bank (often in NY), then the intermediary bank using the FEDWIRE wire transfer system sends it to your credit union. True your credit union doesnt charge a fee, but that intermediary bank, typically a large commercial bank, is going to deduct a fee between $10-$50 depending on the sending bank, any agreements it has with your credit union, and the amount of the transfer. The 2 variables are 1) No ones going to tell you what that fee is until after your first transaction, and you see how much was deducted from the transfer and currency conversion. 2) Some banks dont need intermediary banks.

A wire transfer will cost you about $18 if you do it online, and $20-$30 if you do it over the counter (depending on the commission for counter wires). If you intend to rely on wires, because you anticipate a once a month or less wire transfer you will want to use Bank of China (BOC). They have internet and mobile banking which gets you the online rate, and BOC has their own branch office in NY with FEDWIRE access that can handle the whole transmission (sending) of a wire transfer, since your credit union doesnt charge anything to receive, your looking at $18 for each transfer.

If you want to spend more money and have more banking services you can open an international banking account with HSBC (they are the only international US-China bank). Their Premier account offers free global accounts and transfers between your accounts, as well as bill pay, unlimited global ATMS, lower conversion fees, etc. The fee is $50/month (unless you can keep $100K in the account). They have a new Advance account thats $20/month, but you have to open 2 account (one in China and one in the US, and it comes to about $36, plus the account transfer fee is $7 per transfer).

Remittance services, like Money Gram, and Western union are about $30-$50 for an agent based transaction, but someone has to pick it up and deposit it in your account.

Paypal is the cheapest. Now that debit cards are more common, you get a UP (UnionPay) debit card from BOC (Bank of China), you use it to fund your paypal account which only costs the RMB->USD conversion fee (2%-3%), which you have to pay with any transaction, and they you can withdraw the funds to your US Bank account for free. The funds get posted to pay pal the same day and the withdrawal takes a day.

There are some other options:
You can get a bank draft from a bank like HSBC or BOC in USD, and either mail it too your credit union for deposit (slow) or you can try using your mobile banking app and use photo deposit (sometimes it works, sometimes it gets rejected, sometimes your account gets frozen while FINCEN investigates).

You can try using the BOC (or other Chinese banks) online banking and bill pay features, to send your self a a "payment" using your bank as the address and receiver. If youre wiring funds due to financial obligations you can just try to pay the bills directly with the Chinese banks bill pay.

You can buy travelers cheques in USD which be purchased for about 1% (plus currency conversion) and then endorsing them to yourself and account number, while signing them and then mailing them to your credit union (take pictures of them), they can be replaced for free. if lost and you can have the "replaced" cheques delivered to a trusted family member in the States and just have the family member register and endorse the cheques to your account, avoiding the mailing issue.

You can send cash in an envelope but thats VERY risky, and the cost of EMS is the same or more than a wire transfer.

[Basmad6]

All great info and the credit union has confirm they do not have the international number and the steps needed to wire which seemed like a pain and that's why I began to research other options and posted here as well.
There's an HSBC close by so I will investigate their services.

Thanks again all!

[Helen Back]

I understand Shanghai Community International School is now offering pollution pay. I know this is also being discussed by at least one other Shanghai school.

[PsyGuy]

Discussions by similar schools in China that are considering offering pollution pay on an daily pay basis. You get a bonus of around 60-120 RMB/day on working days that the pollution level is at or above a certain threshold.

[Basmad6]

Helen & Psyguy thanks for posting.
Pollution is a huge concern and will be the entire time I'm there. ive heard positives (ok more like "it's not THAT bad" or Beijing is worse!") to its horrid and intolerable. I will also be meeting new colleagues who've now been in Shanghai for years and have no major complaints...one is a marathon runner. I may have to update the thread next Feb after the "bad" season winds down with my own update.

I do appreciate both the opinions and folks keeping it professional.

Since my school provides housing the first year, I won't waste any time tge first week in town stressing about this...but next year I'll need to find my own spot. Tips on " best" neighborhoods (tell us why it's the best in your opinion), rental tips and any other Shanghai rental adventures would be great, humorous, scary maybe.

[nikkor]

Basmad6 wrote:
>
> Tips on " best" neighborhoods (tell us why it's the
> best in your opinion), rental tips and any other Shanghai rental adventures
> would be great, humorous, scary maybe.

Shanghai is kind of a big place. Will you be on the Pudong or Puxi side of town? Which neighborhood is your school in? In Puxi, people especially like French concession or jing'an temple areas (and many others). There are re-done apartments, that are comfortable and hip. Tons of interesting restaurants, bars and shopping. With all the older western-built neighborhoods, it's kind of a Europe in China experience.
In Pudong, I would stick to Jinqiao. The jinqiao Carrefour is kind of home base for everything you need. There are tons of restaurants in the area that are expat friendly, and you can live a truly western lifestyle. Jinqiao is also the most expensive neighborhood in Shanghai, or maybe Asia. For instance, when I'm in Tokyo or Singapore, food and entertainment feel cheap (and are way better quality).

[IAMBOG]

I have a feeling you are going to be based in Hongqiao, which is a decent place to live.

[Basmad6]

Won't know officially until I'm handed the keys, but likely guess, yes H area.
Thanks again everyone for the great feedback. Looking forward to the adventure