Where to Exchange Foreign Currency for RMB in Guangzhou, China?

Prior to our departure for China, we converted a certain amount of Canadian dollars to RMB at a Toronto bank in Canada.

Since credit cards are still not commonly accepted in everyday transactions in China, we have to pay for our purchases with our RMB once landed here.

However, for Chinese these days, shopping and paying for their purchases are easy, convenient and fast. Using their cell phones, many Chinese can instantaneously pay for their purchases to the stores, online, even taxi fares. The exact amount would be deducted directly from the customers' bank accounts and transferred to the merchants' within minutes.

After vacationing for almost two weeks in China, we almost ran out of Chinese money and needed to replenish our wallet. We wanted to exchange our Canadian dollars to RMB in Guangzhou, China, but it was not as easy as we thought. For the past few days, we encountered the following:

1. First we went to the Bank of China which is a big bank with many branches in Canada. But they would not exchange money for us unless we had an account with the bank.

2. Then we went to the Bank of Guangzhou,  a big bank here. They would exchange money for us. But to our disappointment, the bank would only exchange U.S. dollars, not Canadian money! This happened before on our other trips in other countries! I couldn't believe it happened again in China.
For the past two days, we went from bank to bank without success.

3. Finally, on Friday, after asking a few people around, we were directed to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ( ICBC )  closest to our hotel. To our pleasant surprise,  they exchanged our Canadian money for RMB!  And there was no charge either!

Hurrah for the ICBC in Guangzhou! You have saved our tour in China!

R.T.
Guangzhou
China