254 CultureShock! China
were allowed to change money previously and not now, the
teller pulls out the regulations in Chinese and insists you read
them. She tells you there is absolutely nothing she can do to
give you more than US$ 500 today. What should you do? Throw a fit and ask to speak to the manager in the hopes
that they can override the regulations on your behalf.
Call your landlady and negotiate with her to allow you to
give her US$ 500 today and US$ 500 the following day.
Explain the situation to the teller and ask her to advise you
on any other ways you may be able to secure the extra
US$ 500 before 4:00 pm.
Call your best friend and casually ask if they have US$ 500
on hand to loan you for the day.Comments
Although , and may be viable options as fallbacks,
the best way to approach the situation is . Unless you ask
someone in China to help you solve your problem, they
will not consider giving you options. Many times, people,
especially those working for government entities, are very
linear in their thinking and do not want to take responsibility
for anything that could get them into trouble with superiors
or cause them an inconvenience. In addition, Chinese are
very pragmatic after living for 50 years under a system
that is often dysfunctional. They can quickly find practical
solutions to impractical situations. Should you get the bank
teller to help you problem solve, you would find that there
are at least three different ways you can get the additional
US$ 500 in one day.
The fi rst would be to bring in your employment contract
and receipts demonstrating you have paid tax, which would
give you the right to withdraw funds in USD. The second is to
withdraw the money in RMB and go to a currency exchange
centre at an international airport to change the RMB into
USD. The third, and least attractive, would be to use a black
market moneychanger. The degree of transparency and risk
in using a moneychanger depends upon the city you are
in. For example, at China World in Beijing, at least fi ve of