I need to get some US dollars or British pounds in cash this week as I am going to Nepal (or of course Nepali rupees!). Does anyone have any they want to exchange for RMB? I want to get about 700 dollars but if you have less than that I would also be interested. We can just look at the official exchange rate for the day on this website (www.xe.com) and both save on the usual charges.

Please send me an email if you're interested: maudecroucher[at]gmail.com. Thanks!

Or if anyone has any suggestions of how to get hold of foreign currency in cash I would be very grateful.

If you go with a Chinese friend to a larger Bank of China you can change to USD or whatever they have on hand,,just with your friends ID card,,very simple,,if you have a Chinese ID card,,,lucky them

There are a million places in Kathmandu that will change RMB to whatever.

Hi Ian,

Thanks for the advice. I had heard that it might be really hard to change RMB in Kathmandu. Have you actually done it before?

Thanks!

Yup, did it in July, there are maybe 20 places in Thamel alone - no problem at all.

@yuantongsi any foreigner can also change Yuan into a foreign currency at a bank, and in general it is more likely that we foreigners would need to change foreign currency compared to locals (since we came from abroad!!) Banks would likely ask locals for a reason why they need to change Yuan before they can exchange it. They would definately need to give a good reason such as going abroad for study etc.

I think if you have your exchange receipts, or show proof that you are going abroad, you can exchange money at the Bank of China with your ID (usually a passport is requested). Still, I'd rather exchange my Yuan abroad, and this is becoming increasingly easy to do as more and more places around the world accept Yuan - so forget about the days of needing to buy dollars first and then using those dollars to obtain local currency. Only exception to this would be if you have some obscure currency on you such as Mongolian Togrols or Burmese Kyat, both of which can generally only be exchanged inside their respective countries or maybe near their land borders with neighboring countries.

Hi Yuanyanren,

If you don't have exchange receipts, please let me know exactly how to get forex as a foreigner and I will go to the BOC and do so.

In my expereince unless you have tax receipts or exchange receipts its impossible.

Yuantongsi,
go to the big Bank of China on DongfengXiLu. I always have the appropriate paperwork on me, but show it only when asked - which rarely happens. They will tell you there's a max amount you can exchange (800$ if I remember correctly) but apart from that no prob. If that's not enough or you get an overzealous guy, go back the next day.