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out the new site from The Laughing Buddha! LIFESiZE: LIFE in ShenZhen for Expats Wiring Money Home + Tax Guide for Expats Welcome to the "Survival Kit" for Shenzhen Expats! Sometimes issues arise that even our best Chinese friends cannot help us with. I call these P.E.N.s, as these needs are almost exclusively peculiar to the resident expat.
Wiring Money Home: While it’s possible to send money to other countries by setting up transfer instructions through your bank, this requires multiple documents that can take weeks to prepare. (Talk to your employer for more information on this.) I find it easier to use Western Union. You can send money virtually anywhere in the world, and it usually arrives within 15 minutes. It is then available to your designated recipient at a Western Union office near them. (That means you must have a “catcher” at that end; you can’t send it directly to your bank or another institution.) The fee (in U.S. dollars) is $15 for amounts up to $500, and $20 if over that. (I think--that was the last information I was given at a bank in Shenzhen. Hong Kong may be more, and private Western Union offices may be more than banks.) Very reasonable. Over 200 Western Union locations are listed for Shenzhen on Western Union's site. In fact, there must be one in virtually every “Agricultural Bank of China”—the site lists around 140. The other 60 or so are in “China Post” locations—the post office. To find Western Union offices anywhere in China, go to this page:
There is one problem: To use Western Union in Shenzhen, you must approach them with the currency you are sending, including the fee. That means, if I want to send $250US to America, I need to have $265US in my hand. Because of China’s tight currency controls, this isn’t always easy to do. So here’s a slightly more complicated option: There are dozens of Western Union locations in Hong Kong. Many of them will change your RMB and send it in your chosen currency all in one transaction. To find various locations in Hong Kong, go to the link above and choose “Hong Kong” instead of “China.” I often use the Patel's on Nathan Road in Kowloon, and the one in Wan Chai, as it's near Coyote, my favorite Tex-Mex place. There are English-speaking staff at all Patel's. Tax Guide for Expats: On April 4, the Shenzhen Daily began publishing a "Tax Guide for Expats." A version of the Guide is available online here; the full printed version can be obtained by calling 2584-3626 or 8351-8990 during office hours. NOTE: If this is important to you, it is highly recommended that you get the printed version, as many errors and omissions may have crept into the Shenzhen Daily version. The Shenzhen Daily's version is found (basically) every other Monday, but it's a little tricky: It is never listed on the top listing of articles; you can only find it by clicking "Industries" along the left side of the page. It is usually on the Industries page (page 11) in the PDF version. For your convenience, here are the dates--believed to be complete--of publication so far. The HTML version is preferred; the PDF is given when the HTML is unavailable. Also be aware that sometimnes the HTML and PDF versions listed here overlap. Again, if it's important, call for the printed version.
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