Hi all, i have to change a fair amount of RMB into GB pounds shortly, and was wondering if anyone had any advice on the best way to do this. I don't use a foreign account here and don't want to use paypal through anyone else's account. Has anyone found a decent alternative here in Kunming? Or do you find it cheaper in the UK? Any advice much appreciated,

Thanks

do you have a British bank account? If so I could probably take it off your hands and do a bank transfer from my natwest account at the same time.

actually ignore that, don't think there's much in my UK account at the moment.

but the idea would work if you can find someone.

What do you call a large amount? Greinchina is right, but you may find it difficult to find someone you trust in a position to make such an exchange. If you are working here see if your employer has a cache of foreign currency he can use to make the exchange.

Try to find a friend who knows a reliable money exchanger (not one who works in the bank if you get my drift). Bank transfer fees and exchange fees can be quite expensive and you are restricted to a certain amount when you do exchange at the bank of china or other banks.

if you still want to exchange please call me 15925206921

If you deal with a money changer, the best way to protect yourself is to set up a multi-currency account at BOC, and have the money directly deposited there as part of the transaction. That eliminates the counterfeit risk. Then you can withdraw the cash (only at the main bank office), or just pull it out of an ATM back home for a fee.

I find that simply watching the teller hand the foreign currency to the money changer, stops counterfeit replacement, although I do have the advantage of seeking the very hard to counterfeit Australian currency, which is made from a polymer not paper. I think if they where going to try and counterfeit foreign currency they would target US$ and Euros. Also keep in mind that when you withdraw foreign currency from your multi-currency account at BOC, you will be hit with an extra fee. I recently tried to withdraw $3,000 from my account recently and was informed that this would incur a fee of $24. I got round this by moving the money to my chinese wife's account prior to withdrawl, as this would seem to only applies to foreigners. Also when using a money changer, I use a trusted 3rd party, non chinese faces tend to attract too much unwanted attention.