I have really  enjoyed my first year living in China. But one major frustration is the cash-based society here. I just spent four hours reconciling the last three months in Quicken. Can you believe that?! Four hours! We were too accustomed to our life in the US where every transaction is automatically recorded on-line. Checking my balance and spending patterns was almost effortless.Here, most receipts are hand written and all payments are made in cash (no checks). On our first trip to the appliance store for a washer, dryer, rice cooker, water dispenser, coffee maker, iron, etc — the total was more than 15,000 RMB and they refused to take a credit card. I had to go get cash-RMB. And in China the largest note is 100 RMB, so I counted out 150 notes! Money management is a chore.

Receipts