Doing my part to even out our trade deficit with China

This is a quick test post. I appear to have found a way for me to post directly to the blog.

Money hasn't been a problem at all. One can exchange currency in the airport, but even easier is to just use an ATM. Many of the major banks in the big cities are on Cirrus or Transfund or one of the big bank networks. So I put my little Tulsa Teachers Credit Union card into the China Construction Bank ATM slot, enter my PIN and withdrew 1200 Yuan. That's about $180. There will be fees, from probably both ends, and they are more than you'd pay at home, but the currency exchange charges a $7 fee for the first $100 dollars converted too, so it's comparable. Best to do a few larger conversions/withdrawls than lots of small ones.

Prices are pretty easy to figure out. Everything is in Yuan and take that price and divide by 7 and you're pretty close to a dollar value. Same denomations as ours. There are some smaller sub-divisions than a Yuan plus coinage, but since a 1Yuan bill is about 15 cents I haven't seen or needed much of the smaller stuff.

China is pretty inexpensive when you get here. Especially when you consider that Beijing (population 10 million) is comparable to being in New York or Los Angeles. Our hotel rooms are about $120 a night. A similar tier room in Manhattan would be $250. Meals have been $4-$8. And there's no sales tax and no tipping; so order a $3.50 entree and you leave paying $3.50. Bottled water or a coke inside the forbidden city was 50 cents, whereas a similar venue back home (Disneyland, Yellowstone) you'd expect those good ole $3 drinks