LINDA Zhao, a Shanghai office worker, returned home last week from a trip in the US, and now she has to contend with paying off dollar credit-card purchases with a weakened yuan.

“I arrived home to find the yuan had lost nearly 4 percent in two days,” Zhao said. “I will have to pay my credit card bill next month, when the exchange rate will be anyone’s guess.”

Indeed, guesswork is the name of the game after the People’s Bank of China began lowering its reference rate for fixing yuan foreign exchange last Tuesday, effectively dropping the value of the yuan against the US dollar to a four-year low.

The devaluation was the largest since 1994.

By the end of the week, after three days of devaluation, the yuan stabilized and was trading at 6.3918 to the US dollar on the onshore market, compared with the 6.20 for the past three months.

Nancy Lu is a young mother and a frequent shopper on foreign e-commerce sites. She said she will continue to buy overseas baby food and other infant-care products even if prices rise.

She said she sometimes also buys cosmetics and clothing as a treat for herself, mostly from British websites. Like many Chinese, she said she looks for higher quality in offshore products.

A package of goods costing 50 pounds sterling will now cost Lu 501 yuan, compared with 486 yuan only a month ago.

“Even if the yuan drops 10 percent,”Lu said, “products for children are still cheaper than the same brand in Chinese shops. But I will probably think twice before buying things for myself if I don’t really need them.”

Thinking twice. As Chinese consumers contemplate what, if any, impact the devaluation will have on their household spending, the central bank issued statements trying to soothe any public anxieties.

It said the devaluation was part of a financial reform to align the policy rate closer to the market-trading rate and that “room for further devaluation is limited.”

Swiss Bank UBS forecast last week that the yuan could drop to 6.50 to the US dollar by the end of this year and to 6.60 by the end of next year.

The three days of devaluation initially drove Asian stock markets, currencies and commodities lower amid fears that China’s actions might trigger a new round in the global currency war, where nations depreciate their currencies to gain an upper hand in exporting.

“Personally, I am not the big fan of using currency depreciation as a tool to support exports,” said Tommy Xie, an economist at OCBC Bank. “In fact, a mild 3 percent to 5 percent depreciation is unlikely to support exports when global trade growth has slowed significantly. Rising volatility may hurt importers.”

Other economists have warned the China’s action may trigger a wave of deflation around the world and possibly affect plans by the US and UK central banks to begin raising interest rates from historic lows.

While markets suffered the heebie-jeebies, Chinese consumers mostly greeted the news with a yawn. But questions remain. How will devaluation affect travel plans of the Chinese, who are considered the backbone of tourism in many foreign countries? How will it affect the current frenzy for buying homes overseas or sending children to study in foreign countries?

The yuan devaluation will mean a higher financial burden for overseas students. Tuition and living expenses at top universities in the US, for example, can easily add up to US$60,000 a year.

However, even a 10 percent yuan depreciation would not deter Ye Jinyun from his plans to send his 15-year old son to study in the US, he said.

“I’ve set aside money for the sole purpose of sending my child to study abroad,” Ye said. “For the current exchange-rate, I have enough to cover tuition and living costs. Even if the yuan continues to fall, I will not sacrifice the education of my son and choose a cheaper place for him to study. I will tell my son to spend less on leisure activities or possibly get part-time jobs to cover some of his expenses.”

For travelers, the impact of exchange rate varies according to destination.

Tourists will no doubt be checking exchange rates when making holiday plans. So far this year, the yuan has weakened 3.3 percent against the US dollar and 4.5 percent against the pound, but it has strengthened 4.6 percent against the euro and remained flat with the yen. That partly explains the popularity of Europe and Japan as destinations.

Ctrip.com, China’s leading online travel company, said the number of travelers to Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia this summer season jumped 10-fold from a year ago, and it doesn’t believe enthusiasm for foreign holidays will be dimmed by such a “marginal” yuan devaluation.

Citing the central’s pledge that its intervention in the market won’t be prolonged, Ctrip predicted prices won’t change much for traveling abroad, especially to the US.

Prices for tour groups are set at the time of purchase, and agencies are usually willing to absorb any additional costs if exchange rates change, according to travel agencies.

“Trips bought from travel agencies were purchased in advance, so the recent weakening will have no impact on them,” travel agency Spring Tour said in a note. “In fact, the yuan is still relatively strong, and that means there is good bargain shopping in the US and Europe.”

Brokers in the business of helping Chinese buy overseas properties said a more liberal exchange rate might lead to more volatility but quickly added that they don’t expect interest in foreign real estate investment to abate much.

“In the short term, it has made overseas property in many markets more expensive for a renminbi buyer, reducing purchasing power,”said Nicholas Holt, head of research at Knight Frank Asia Pacific. “However, we don’t feel that this currency adjustment will have a significant longer term impact as China continues to ease regulations on outbound capital flows and as the appetite for overseas property remains strong.”

Andrew Kam, director of Savills Shanghai Valuation Department, said he believes the depreciation of the yuan will actually increase interest by Chinese buyers in overseas properties because it’s a way to channel their money in a safe place, away from any further depreciation. Strong currency regions, such as the US and UK in particular, should benefit from that increased interest, he added.