The paperwork came through fast, once I signed all those papers. The business visa was issued. Actually, my passport contains a residence permit, and the stated purpose of my residence is written on there. I presume it says 'business', though I haven't had it translated yet.
Now for the commercial bank account, and the much needed infusion of cash.
It took over an hour, going from one desk to another and back again, at the bank. Then we needed to hop on the ebikes and go around the corner to the 'Peoples Bank of China', the equivalent of our Federal Reserve Bank. Once back to the Agricultural Bank, I finally was given my passport back. The clerk showed me a blue plastic card I needed, for doing transactions; she tucked it into my passport. I noticed the large letters in English 'SAFE'. That's about all I saw. The woman from the agency took control of it before handing me back my passport.
Then they told me there were regulations about how to use the money. I needed a 'contract' for everything I purchased, not just a receipt. What? It was a bank worker who tried to explain to me, the official English speaker in that department. I had no idea what she was saying. I asked a number of times for a handout where all these rules were written. Each time I was more insistent, and finally I was handed a much photocopied document in Chinese. No English.
Me: I need to pay back a loan. What kind of documentation do I need?
Her: Oh, you can't use the money for your personal needs.
Me: This money was borrowed in order to rent my office, while I was waiting for these funds to arrive.
Her: Oh. [looking at her companion, rolling her eyes, looking up to the left. A shrug of shoulders]
This is going to be very complicated! I need to buy that water heater, I need to make improvements in the shop to increase storage capacity, to buy a much needed food processor, you know, personal stuff like that. I am registered as a consultancy, so how can I justify buying flour and any of the above listed things?
The Chinese are so very excellent at fudging all this sort of stuff. I need to find the right person. Shirley would have been that person, but now she's gone and opened her own business and is way too busy. I will just have to keep looking. I know the Lord will provide me with just the right person.
Candice came to my store yesterday. I taught her often at Web. She was in the habit of texting me on Skype whenever she found me online. It became a bother. Her written English is not much better than her spoken English, which is barely understandable outside of the basic social chats. I couldn't remember what work she did, but I had a niggling feeling. So I told her I was looking for an accountant. She said she was a certified accountant, and would love to help. Later that day we had a long exchange on Skype texting. Much of it was unintelligible. She was trying to tell me how to use my account. Hence, she is not exactly the right person to explain things to me, but once I understand the rules myself, she may well be able to translate what I want into what needs to be written. As long as I know my needs clearly, I think she can fulfill them.
I am thinking about scanning the instructions and sending them to Su, the lovely lady at my wine tasting. She loves translating and interpreting. She may be willing to translate this document for me. The obvious question is, why is there not already an English translation? I think the answer is, there is but it is not widely circulated. The instructions are in large type and bulleted, covering a little over two pages.
I think I might go to Monkey King and ask Lisa about this. She surely must have to help Alex do his reports, and her English is quite good.
The other odd thing is that I need to transfer between 100,000 rmb and 101,000 rmb. Not more, not less. One Forex website said that equaled $15,831. Well, but what about fees, and variable exchange rates. I thought, well, round it off to $16,000 to be sure. But when I ran that through a Forex converter, it was over the $101,000 limit!
All very interesting. I remember a favorite expression of my dad's: Makes you want to shoot your grandmother. [He never knew his, as she was in Italy, just as I never knew mine because they passed away too soon]
Now for the commercial bank account, and the much needed infusion of cash.
It took over an hour, going from one desk to another and back again, at the bank. Then we needed to hop on the ebikes and go around the corner to the 'Peoples Bank of China', the equivalent of our Federal Reserve Bank. Once back to the Agricultural Bank, I finally was given my passport back. The clerk showed me a blue plastic card I needed, for doing transactions; she tucked it into my passport. I noticed the large letters in English 'SAFE'. That's about all I saw. The woman from the agency took control of it before handing me back my passport.
Then they told me there were regulations about how to use the money. I needed a 'contract' for everything I purchased, not just a receipt. What? It was a bank worker who tried to explain to me, the official English speaker in that department. I had no idea what she was saying. I asked a number of times for a handout where all these rules were written. Each time I was more insistent, and finally I was handed a much photocopied document in Chinese. No English.
Me: I need to pay back a loan. What kind of documentation do I need?
Her: Oh, you can't use the money for your personal needs.
Me: This money was borrowed in order to rent my office, while I was waiting for these funds to arrive.
Her: Oh. [looking at her companion, rolling her eyes, looking up to the left. A shrug of shoulders]
This is going to be very complicated! I need to buy that water heater, I need to make improvements in the shop to increase storage capacity, to buy a much needed food processor, you know, personal stuff like that. I am registered as a consultancy, so how can I justify buying flour and any of the above listed things?
The Chinese are so very excellent at fudging all this sort of stuff. I need to find the right person. Shirley would have been that person, but now she's gone and opened her own business and is way too busy. I will just have to keep looking. I know the Lord will provide me with just the right person.
Candice came to my store yesterday. I taught her often at Web. She was in the habit of texting me on Skype whenever she found me online. It became a bother. Her written English is not much better than her spoken English, which is barely understandable outside of the basic social chats. I couldn't remember what work she did, but I had a niggling feeling. So I told her I was looking for an accountant. She said she was a certified accountant, and would love to help. Later that day we had a long exchange on Skype texting. Much of it was unintelligible. She was trying to tell me how to use my account. Hence, she is not exactly the right person to explain things to me, but once I understand the rules myself, she may well be able to translate what I want into what needs to be written. As long as I know my needs clearly, I think she can fulfill them.
I am thinking about scanning the instructions and sending them to Su, the lovely lady at my wine tasting. She loves translating and interpreting. She may be willing to translate this document for me. The obvious question is, why is there not already an English translation? I think the answer is, there is but it is not widely circulated. The instructions are in large type and bulleted, covering a little over two pages.
I think I might go to Monkey King and ask Lisa about this. She surely must have to help Alex do his reports, and her English is quite good.
The other odd thing is that I need to transfer between 100,000 rmb and 101,000 rmb. Not more, not less. One Forex website said that equaled $15,831. Well, but what about fees, and variable exchange rates. I thought, well, round it off to $16,000 to be sure. But when I ran that through a Forex converter, it was over the $101,000 limit!
All very interesting. I remember a favorite expression of my dad's: Makes you want to shoot your grandmother. [He never knew his, as she was in Italy, just as I never knew mine because they passed away too soon]
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