"China Construction Bank opens up accounts for foreigners without Visa." - do you mean bank accounts that don't include a VISA credit card? Like anyone can show up and open a bank account? I've heard it's easy in HK but not a given, especially with more recent strict KYC laws.
Tell us a bit more about the tours of advanced manufacturing facilities if you can, I'm fascinated.
> - do you mean bank accounts that don't include a VISA credit card?
He means a VISA, not Visa the brand. In China Visa does not exist and everything is local banks. In many places, except an Apple Store (so I found out), US credit cards cannot be used.
You can use Mastercard and Visa in many high end ish places like Starbucks, upscale shopping centers (like Cocopark in Shenzhen), nice restaurants. Virtually all ATMs also support these cards.
Thanks. I will try more mainstream places. I found that even in some brands I still have to use my China Construction Bank debit card. I never had a problem getting out cash with my Visa debit card from an ATM. I just couldn't use the debit card at a lot of stores.
Some upscale hotels also accept foreign credit cards. There's rumor Discover cards can be used just the same as local credit cards, but I never get a chance to verify that.
Tell us a bit more about the tours of advanced manufacturing facilities if you can, I'm fascinated.