In defence of Chinese banking, as long as you don’t expect too much it’s pretty ok. The charges are low/ free, I get a text every time my account is used, and the ICBC near me speak English and have a brick of $100 so if I ever want cash for a SE Asian holiday I get $500 with no appointment just sign some forms, takes 15 mins.
There are loads of ATM around open 24 hour that always take Union Pay and there’s never any issue withdrawing 2-3000 kuai anywhere I’ve visited. Occasionally there’s a 2 kuai charge if I use a BoC machine. In the UK my Chinese card charges are lower than using my Visa in China.
