Convert to Chinese yuan

You will also see the Chinese yuan called renminbi, RMB, kuai.

Using the Chinese yuan

• The currency is the renminbi; the yuan is its unit. Locals usually say kuai in speech and almost never renminbi.
• Notes run 1, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 yuan. The 100 is the workhorse and small vendors will sometimes refuse it early in the day before they have change.
• Coins exist for 1 yuan and for 5 jiao (half a yuan) and are mostly used for buses and lockers.
• Cash is now the minority payment method in cities, which cuts both ways: you need less of it, and the places that still want it tend to want exact change.
• Airport ATMs accept foreign cards reliably and give a better rate than changing money at home.

Where the Real Cost Hides

Three charges sit between the mid-market rate above and your statement, and they compound. Your card's foreign transaction fee is usually the largest and the easiest to remove. Dynamic currency conversion, where the terminal offers to bill you in your home currency, is reliably the worse rate: always choose the local currency. ATM operator fees are charged on top of whatever your own bank adds, so fewer, larger withdrawals beat several small ones.