We were quoted the same $50,000 limit last year before we came here so made sure we split our bank drafts into 2 so that we could exchange all the money we wanted. I've had no problem exchanging a few thousand dollars cash in a single transaction.

Thanks for your replies!
I know that I can exchange the Swiss Francs directly with my local BOC. Normally I do it this way but since this is a large amount I hope I can get a better rate than the official BOC rate.
I have lived in other cities in China for about 3 years and those cities have 'black market' to exchange money and I know how to do it in a safe way...
Since I'm new in Dali I just wonder if anyone have REAL experience with black market in Kunming and could give me any advice.
I just want to check if it is worth the hassle to withdraw Swiss Francs in cash (which may imply some fees) and travel to Kunming to exchange it in the black market.
Thanks again for your suggestions or advice!

We use Construction Bank exclusively. BoC used to nail us with a "delivery fee" or something which is actually illegal for international wire transfers. For USD 1k, we used to pay something like USD 12 for their "delivery fee" - or about 1-1.5%. We switched to China Construction Bank years ago - no more strange bank "discounts" on our wires. That's kind of useless info since the currency is already in your BoC account - but for future reference - you may want to think about it.

We used to PAY Bank of America to transfer the funds in RMB to avoid the BoC surcharge - but the funds ALWAYS arrived in USD and we STILL had to convert the currency - naturally we got our "conversion fee" surcharge back from BoA (the USA version of a scheming conniving thieving bank - but that's another thread).

As per Allpage48 - I'd avoid the black market simply because of the counterfeit bill issue - unless you have a money counting machine which can also check for general counterfeit bills - caveat emptor. CHF 7k is really not that large an amount - so not sure why you'd want to go off-market aside from maximizing the RMB exchange - but I'm loathe to even consider supporting these particular marketeers.

Also - if you want to "discuss" GRAY market things - suggest you take that conversation WAY offline as I'd hate to see gokm blocked or censored.

Now - if you want to move say any sum in & out legally > USD 50-100k (example USD 1 million or far more), THAT would be an interesting discussion.

I was told it was unlimited going from foreign currency to Yuan (well, there may be a limit like you guys say, but it's quite high) or 500USD equivalent per day when exchanging back to a foreign currency.

You can change up to $50,000 USD or equivalent per year (1/1 to 12/31).
You change it all at one time... just needs to be Monday through Friday. You get a better rate for money wired directly into your account. BOC charge is $10.00, so if you wired $10,000 USD you would receive $9,990 USD.

$50,000 USD limit is the same for foreigner and Chinese.

Jaya

Allright, WHERE, are those 'black markets'? I wanna see their rates, their faces, 'cause I just calculated I would lose about 130 euros (3 percent) if I converted my money at the bank. I'd be happier to lose only 20 to a needy chinese exchanger.

I already exchanged in front of banks but forgot where those were, so if anybody could come up with an exact spot, I'd be most happy!

thanks in advance folks!

Be careful because they mix real bills with counterfeit ones.

If you are swapping large amounts you might like to do the swap at a bank, ie the swapper and you go to the bank counter together and you don't give him the money till the correct amount of RMB is in your account.

Haven't used the black market for quite a few years, but I have been told recently that you can get 5% over whatever the BOC readout says.

Last ime I used them my wife watched the teller remove the renmimbi from the black marketeer's account and run it through an electronic checker before swapping the currency. The teller at the bank branch in central Kunming was well aware of what was going on. As long as you weren't withdrawing huge sums they didn't seem to mind.

As I said this was years ago and perhaps they have clamped down on this sort of thing now.

You might want to check into what the HSBC Kunming branch can do. Correct me but they have been the only foreign bank in Yunnan.