I had the slickasaurus tires on for 2k miles. I used them because they were free - right. However, I had several flats from pushing the bike through stickers and riding too close to the edge of the road in the goatheads. The banks in China that I went to were the government banks. I was there in Aug. 07. Traveled by motorized vehicles from Beijing to Kathmandu and used a debit card the whole way without a hitch. They had these debit machines out on the street corners every once in awhile, I couldn't get those to work. I always had to go in the big red banks. I had a Bank o' merica card and it worked every time. A friend had a regional/local bank card - he had trouble getting cash sometimes. He had to go to the teller window and stand in the incredibly long and slow moving lines!!
Someday soon I hope to go back to China and it will be on a bike. Simply the best touring scenery imaginable. I was almost in tears riding in the Land Cruiser all day....day after day. Best of luck to Ya!