Spain/China 2023, continuing (16)

[aadler]

Second day in China – July 13 Thursday

Because I had trouble getting to sleep last night, I didn’t wake till 8:20AM. Susan immediately texted Kevin that we were both up, and he phoned in a McDonald’s order for our breakfast. I went downstairs to get it — it’s next door — and it was already out on the pickup table by the time I arrived.

(He arranged that last night, and at the time I observed with a bit of annoyance that I really could just go over there and make the purchase myself. He told me that wasn’t workable now: that particular McDonald’s basically does everything by smartphone order, you select and pay before ever showing up and are sent a ticket with a number showing which one is yours. He said that, to make an onsite purchase, you have to find a member of management, and good luck attracting one of those in a busy shop when you don’t speak the language. I accepted his account and stopped arguing.)

I took down and folded much of the laundry from yesterday, though a few things hadn’t finished drying yet. (Being by the same bay as Hong Kong, Shenzhen has a humid atmosphere, so thick fabrics stay damp longer.) Susan took another nap.

I woke her at 11:30AM, and we got ready for Kevin, since he’d said he would come by to take us to lunch. He showed at noon, and we three went out. On the way, we stopped at the nearest bank to try and withdraw some cash from Susan’s and my joint account … and found that the two nearest banks didn’t process Visa or Mastercard (the system for our bank, even though it’s debit cards we’re using), only something called UnionPay. We went on to a nearby Japanese ‘fast food’ place called Yoshinoya to have our lunch. Kevin finished first, and went out to see if he could spot any other banks in the area that showed Visa/Mastercard logos for their ATMs.

Before he returned, Susan needed restroom access, so I took her back to the apartment. He called us on the way, saying he’d found something, and I met him back down in the lobby. We went to this newest bank … and found that, again, they only processed UnionPay even though the display above their ATM featured V/MC logos. There was substantial discussion, while I waited, and one of the managers even called around to see if there were Shenzhen banks anywhere close that we could use. Following my inadequate sleep last night, I started to nod off again; Kevin wakened me to say they had suggested I might be able to open an account specifically for receiving transfers, and get at our funds that way. We decided we’d take a look at that tomorrow, and I returned to the apartment and lay straight down to nap for a bit.

Up after two hours — I didn’t want to sleep all day and then be unable again tonight — and Susan had texts from Kevin saying when Amber (and then Mei‑li) would be available for visiting. We went on over, and Laura (the other grandmother, remember?) welcomed us and provided something to drink while she worked on dinner.

When Mei‑li got in from work, we started the meal, and Kevin came in to join us perhaps fifteen minutes in. With dinner done, everyone else visited for a bit, but I was zoning out again, couldn’t keep my eyes open. While I was awake, Kevin consulted with Mei‑li and his mother-in-law, and they called some people, and the overall conclusion was that, as a brand-new policy, NO banks in Shenzhen could work with Visa/Mastercard, that could only be done in Hong Kong. To withdraw Hong Kong dollars, which would have to be converted to Chinese currency on return to the mainland. Kevin said he would look at making a trip on Saturday.

Susan and I returned to the apartment, settled in for the evening. Nothing in particular, and to bed eventually.