China Chikka: Currency

Currency in China is known as yuan, although its also known as renminbi (RMB) or literally People's Currency.

One yuan is divided into 10 jiao or mao, each of which *gasp* is divided further into 10 fen. It does look as its almost 10 worthless fen..oh well. In colloquial Chinese, jiao is called mao, and yuan is kuai. Most common coins include 1 yuan, 5 jiao and 1 jiao,  hile the bills circulating around are 1, 2, and 5 jiao and 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 yuan. Counterfeiting is said to be widespread and shopkeepers regularly check large denominations. Btw, Hong Kong dollars divide into 100 cents and Macanese patacas into 100 avos.

Credit cards are widely-accepted in the upmarket restaurants and larger hotels or in state-run shops, but better to check first before attempting to buy anything using your card. Debit card is unlikely to be used as of this writing.

There are some ATMs in the bigger cities which might accept foreign credit and debit cards. One could look for head branches of major international banks and of course the Bank of China. ATM machines that accept foreign cards are scarce in Mainland China so better be careful not to rely too much on them.

The recommendation is to carry traveler's checks (you pay commission though) as well as US dollars, sterlings and Euros.

Bank of China has of course exchange desks for the foreign currency and traveler's cheques and these are seen at larger hotels, airports and some stores.  A tip is to keep your exchange receipts as they will be needed to convert one's spare RMB into another currency before leaving the country. Chinese currency cannot be used outside of the country.

One can exchange currency at banks, international airports and decent hotels. All exchange operations are linked to the Bank of China so rates do not vary very much between them. The Chinese "black market" for exchanging foreign curcency offers only slightly better rates than banks, so better be safe than sorry (you  might end up with fake renminbi).