[erikb]

The best strategy I (German) use with Chinese friends is giving money to one person in Germany and letting a family member of them transfer the corresponding amount inside China. This way you can save on most of the fees and your ability to transfer money basically gets down to how much Guanxi (relationship value) you have.

[statguy]

The good old hawala (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawala) :)