I haven't had any issues with my multiple accounts in China.

For those wondering, this isn't just the standard tax reporting requirement. Under FATCA, the US has been signing deals with other countries to require increased reporting on accounts held by US citizens around the world. This has led many banks in Europe to deny service or raise fees from US citizens due to the increased cost of compliance.

China signed a deal on FATCA data sharing recently. In theory, banks will start filing reports on US citizen accounts this year.

As I said, none of my banks have said anything about this yet.

Evil Western capitalists that they are, I believe they're open over the holiday. Show up on New Year's Day if you want to avoid the madness

Gokunming usually does a story on closures. I'm sure we'll see one in a few days.

French Cafe usually stays open. Most of the other Western places close, at least for a few days. The big supermarkets (Walmart, Carrefour, Metro and a few of the large Chinese ones) tend to stay open, and the wet markets go into overdrive. Smaller shops are hit or miss.

I don't think stockpiling is a big deal, unless there are certain hard-to-find items you just can't do without. The main thing is that the city gets really quiet, and you may have to do some extra wandering before you find whatever you may be looking for.

I submitted mine to the labor bureau as part of the work permit process. I have heard that it's also needed for permanent residence applications. Probably not for family reunion RPs.

BTW, can anyone find a source on this? I haven't turned up any news items, and there are no announcements on the PBoC website either.