anyone have directions from subway to Chungking mansions? Been to HK aton yet i never knew about this!

alight at Jordan MTR station and take the Exit B1 then walk down that particular stretch
of Nathan Road and then turn right onto Pak Hoi Street.

thats the way i usually do it, although you can walk from Yau Ma Tei MTR as well if you choose.

Wow! This is a great thread.

I am flying to Australia to visit some family before flying to Taiwan, HK and China.

So I will most probably change Aussie Dollars to the respective currencies in Taiwan, HK and China.

Aussie Dollars are not that different from Euros or USDs. Right?

If I have the means to give you 50 karma points, I would. Thank you for so much info.

Btw, are the Taoyuan airport money changers operating on 24 hour shifts?

I will only touch down in Taipei around 9pm at night. I hope they are still open then.

[ Last edited by  wwor2002 at 8-9-2009 18:57 ]

i don't think the forex counters at taoyuan work 24 hour shifts although i believe that they
will still be open at 9pm. shouldn't be a problem there.

aussie dollars are widely accepted in both taiwan and HK.

have a good trip and do report your adventures back here!

[ Last edited by  DutchDoubles at 8-9-2009 19:10 ]

Only passing on what I've heard ... Wifey read it in some local chinese newspaper and was telling me about it .. I can't read chinese so didn't see it first hand ... at the end of the day, money exchangers in China do this for a living and again we hear stories of them slipping some dodgy notes in with the real ones ... I guess we live in a cynical world where anything can happen ...

BTW ... not denying your experience though !!

I think DutchDoubles has taken a wrong turn somewhere. Chungking Mansions is right above the Tsim Sha Tsui MTR stop - exit D1 if I remember correctly. At the top of the stairs of exit D1, go left, stay on same side of street and walk down 2 blocks.

I'm not sure about being open 24 hours, but I do know they're open until at least 10 pm. btw, all the money changers in Taoyuan airport offer the same rates so you might as well take the first one you come across which will be before you reach immigration.

so thats what i have been doing wrong all this while! trust bloody google maps to get me there
anyway, i stand corrected bro bmberman and apologies for my error. i differ to bro marsupial's directions on this one.

Wait a min.. are there red-light areas in Taipei? Where are they at?

I was told that prostitution is illegal in Taiwan.

it's tst station, exit at the holiday inn hotel then turn left

If you are in central, try Berlin, they have excellent exchange rate on all currencies, even better than the ones in
ChungKing.

hey bro

i was more of making a reference to the part of your trip where you will be in HK and China
(although you may want to check the China Section of the forum for the latest on the
nationwide police crackdowns that are ongoing):

http://forum.sex141.com/eforum/v ... &extra=page%3D1

as for Taiwan, i can't say i know anything very much about the punting scene there. the
International Reports Section of the forum will be able to provide you with quite a good idea
of the scene in Taipei. this is a relatively recent one on a HG in Taipei:

http://forum.sex141.com/eforum/v ... &extra=page%3D1
[courtesy of Bro MML]

there a quite a few other threads in the International Section on Taiwan/Taipei as well. do
a search and you will get the info.

to the poster who asked about where Chungking Mansions is at - it's at the TST station, look for the signs for the Holiday Inn Golden Mile, it's right next door to the Holiday Inn, between the Holiday Inn and the Imperial Hotel.  And don't buy the water in there, unless it is sealed up in plastic bottles.  I got sick for a week from buying and drinking some water from there.

As far as Citibank goes - they now charge a 3% FOREX fee now on their non-HK accounts.  This started on January 1, 2009, if you read the fine print.  Unless you have a Citigold account, in which case they waive the fee.  Without the fee, the Citibank ATM is great - my 2 withdrawls back in July were 7.7499 and 7.7501.  With the fee of course, I'm fucked.  Since I had Citigold up until 5 months ago, I talked the bank into waiving one of the 2 fees, but still not a great deal.  I'll check and see if HSBC has FOREX fees or not.

I have a Capitol One VISA credit card.  Just about the only credit card brand that I know of that does not charge a service percentage on FOREX.

another good article on conversion fees, from an American standpoint:

http://www.flyerguide.com/wiki/i ... nd_Foreign_Exchange

hey bros

not sure if anyone has ever used a pre-paid/pre-loaded/pay-as-you-go debit card. i was just told about such a
product by a friend (i'm off to Bangkok tomorrow so no chance to try it out overseas). apparently, there
are several companies offering these Visa/Mastercard branded debits.

you just top it up with a certain amount and depending on the card itself, they charge a flat fee for foreign
ATM withdrawals, whereas some don't even have a foreign transaction charge on purchases made with the
card. i guess its good to control spending but also if you are uncertain about carrying loads of cash but yet
are afraid that your high limit credit card may be used for fradulent purposes, this kind of product may
solve the dilemma.

got to get one when i return from vacation.

I went to Chungking Mansions today to exchange money - these were the quoted rates:

Money Exchange 1

HK$ to US$

buy:  7.73     sell:  7.75       lose 0.13% over interbank rate

HK$ to Euro

buy:  11.23    sell  11.38     lose 0.66%

Money Exchange 2

HK$ to RMB

buy    0.881    sell   0.885    lose 0.23%

Note that the above HK$-RMB rate was given at a different booth next to the money changers that gave the good US$ and Euro rates - those places did not give a particularly good HK$ to RMB rate. And the place that gave the good RMB exchange rate did not give a particularly good HK$ to US$/Euro exchange rate. I thought this suspicious and asked if the RMB people charged commissions and was told no.

Just a thing about HSBC, do not rely to it at all. They still make you pay offer rate when changing currencies even if you are a client, employee and event if you use the Premier service . Just a waste of time. This is an insider's confirmation. For Macau just accept the 3% commission and in China you can change at the hotel as well (better than the money changer booths) and 100% safe but follow the tips of the locals above.

If you want to change money in the Mainland, go to a reputable bank. Hotels anywhere in the world, give the absolute worst rates.

Bah nowhere in Hong Kong , China or Qatar wanted me Russian roubles , the UK forex places did thoughbut charged a painful 5% and gave me a shitty rate too to boot.