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Money in China


owenkrout

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Sorry about causing some confusion. It is another sign that you have been in China too long when you start using the local slang without even realizing it.

 

Quai is actually slang, in Putonghua (Official Mandarian) for Yuan, the basic unit of currency. There are paper and coin versions of the Yuan in common use. 1 Yuan = aprox. 12 cents

 

Renmembi (RMB) actually means money, but is also used to mean Yuan.

 

The Yuan is divided into ten Jiao, which is often called by the slang Mao. There are coin versions of the Jiao, but usually you see the paper Jiao. When coins are used, they are often taped together in a stack of five or ten. This is also a common scam. There are only 8 or 9 in the stack or some in the middle are slugs. This coin feels like "pot metal" or plastic. I think it is probably zinc. 1 Jiao = aprox. 1.2 cents

 

The Jiao is divided into ten Fen, which I don't remember the slang for since almost nobody uses the Fen anymore. I have only seen paper Fen and then only rarely. 1 Fen = aprox. .12 cents

 

Believe it or not, the 100 Yuan paper bill is the largest denomination in circulation in China. This leads to people commonly carrying large wads of money on their person, since it is rare to pay for anything with a check or credit card. The banks are encouraging the use of debit cards and as they and their machines get more reliable, the concept is catching on.

 

Basic denominations in circulation.

1 Fen paper money

1 Jiao paper money

1 Jiao coin

5 Jiao (half Yuan) paper money

5 Jiao (half Yuan) coin

1 Yuan (basic unit, most commonly used) paper

1 Yuan coin

2 Yuan paper

5 Yuan paper

10 Yuan paper

20 Yuan paper

50 Yuan paper

100 Yuan paper

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Guest LarryQun

A word of warning about some of the larger yuan bills. There is A LOT of counterfeiting going on in China, especially prevalent in the bigger cities. Be careful what you accept. I have seen many counterfeit 100s and some 50s. I have even seen a counterfeit 10 (sounds crazy, but true). All of the counterfeit bills I have seen were of the older format (the gray 100s not the newer pink ones). The pink bills are considerably harder to duplicate because of the new features. Be careful...

 

P.S. you can also get 5 yuan coins now.

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snip>>

 

Renmembi (RMB) actually means money, but is also used to mean Yuan.  

 

Snip>>

 

More precisely, it means "people's money" ren being people.

 

Also I deal a lot with currency and although CNY is the official code for the Yuan ( like USD for the greenbacks ) , everybody uses RMB, even in writting.. Except banks.

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I hadn't seen any of the 5 Yuan coins yet.

 

The warning about counterfiting is very correct. Take a close look at those large bills. Don't accept the old gray ones. The new ones have the security strips, watermarks and the colors are harder to duplicate. Also feel the paper. The counterfits just don't feel like money.

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I don't think the 2 jiao bills are being made anymore, but yes, you still get them on the street occassionally. I occassionally see some old, unusual denominations and designs, especially in the small bills. My wife won't let me accept them as she says that it is common for people to counterfit the older money.

 

Also, exchanging money on the street is just inviting trouble. You are much more likely to get counterfit bills. Worse yet a common scam is to be working in cahoots with the local PSB beat officers. They wait for you to hand over the American dollars and then rush in. One of two things happens at that point. Either the blackmarket money exchanger yells "police" and runs, hoping you will run in another direction, or they let the cops grab you both. They then pay their bribe to the cops and walk away. You are dragged off to the PSB station or they demand a much higher bribe from you the rich foreign devil. If it is a real raid, you are in worse trouble. You can be heavily fined and deported, theoretically, jailed. What is the fine? The police decide what is legal or illegal and what the penalty is in China. Also, if you are arrested, you are guilty. My own wife and daughter don't grasp the Western concept of innocent until proven guilty. "Of course they are guilty. The police wouldn't arrest them unless they were guilty."

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I agree there is no need to go to the black market guys. You do get a little better than 8.27 from them. Sometimes they are laundring money for the underworld. Last one that approached me was very persistent and was offering 8.5 even though I kept telling him I didn't have any American dollars. I really don't at least not in China.

 

Another issue when working here is that the schools will often try to tie you down to not being able to convert more than 30% of your income to dollars. Good relations with the FAO can get around that though.

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My two jiao's worth. Stay as far away from the black market as you can. It just isn't worth it. The chance of being ripped off is significant or, worse still, being caught in some sort of reverse, corrupt sting operation like the one Owen alluded to. Someone actually tried to pull this on me once in Hefei. I refused to participate. A little later, I saw the same huckster along with two cops and a "captured" Frenchman. It's tragic really.

 

As for counterfeiting, I live in Shantou, the counterfeit captial of China. You have to really check out every bill you get, all the way down to five yuan.

 

BTW Owen, they now have a new 1000RMB note. The university paid my last salary using it. I took them forthwith to the bank who examined them as if they were coated with anthrax spores before accepting them for deposit. Most merchants, as of yet, won't accept them as they are unfamiliar with them and fear they are fakes.

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Wow! I wouldn't want a 1000RMB note for the very reasons you give. There will be more of those in counterfit than official issue very quickly.

 

Here is the real problem. If they give you a counterfit note, the attitude here is that it is your problem for being stupid enough to accept it. I'll give you 20 to 1 that if you went back to the school for a counterfit note they would just insist that you did not get it from them.

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Oh you are so correct my friend! Without a doubt they would disavow any knowledge of said bill faster than the guy on the self-destructing tape used to disavow any knowledge of Mr. Phelps and his IM Force. In fact, I don't blame the merchants for being reluctant to touch them, especially down in this neck of the woods. It will be interesting to see if this large denomination bills catch on or not.

 

I am still waiting to see if, and how popular, credit cards will become. I don't mean the debit cards they now have. I mean the real interest bearing kind we have in the States. Any thoughts?

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Now, in Turkey...LOL

Now, I'm not kidding on this one.. I was in Istanbul last year in May on a Friday... The rate was 1 USD for 650,000 TRL... That Saturday, the Gov'nt devaluated that day... 1 USD = 1,200,000 TRL ( no kidding..1. 2 MILLIONS per..)

My hotel bills for 4 days was 756,000,000 Turkish liras !

Too funny..I didn't catch the face of the lady in our accounting department trying to figure out that expense report.

On that saturday, there were 2 miles long lines in front of ATM's to get USD and German DEM's.... Actually, in Turkey, that was the first time I saw an ATM offering you another currency that the local money.

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On the issue of credit cards. We recently applied for one through the Merchants Bank. They had been bugging me to do so every time I went in for some time. Now they insist that they have a true international credit card that will work in the US. That was just too good a deal to pass up. We will use it like a debit card, always paying it off immediately, but the point is that I can have an account in China and deposit RMB and withdraw dollars in America.

 

They called back yesterday and queried closely about why I would want a credit card. Also worried about whether I was going to stay in China. I will give my danwei credit in that they backed me up on this one and recommended to the bank that they issue me a card. Unusually cooperative attitude for a Chinese employer.

 

The bank told my wife that they have been stung big time on the credit cards. The first ones were issued to the cadre and the really big time businessmen. They have not been good about re-paying.

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On the issue of credit cards.  We recently applied for one through the Merchants Bank.  They had been bugging me to do so every time I went in for some time.  Now they insist that they have a true international credit card that will work in the US.  That was just too good a deal to pass up.  We will use it like a debit card, always paying it off immediately, but the point is that I can have an account in China and deposit RMB and withdraw dollars in America.

 

They called back yesterday and queried closely about why I would want a credit card.  Also worried about whether I was going to stay in China.  I will give my danwei credit in that they backed me up on this one and recommended to the bank that they issue me a card.  Unusually cooperative attitude for a Chinese employer.

 

The bank told my wife that they have been stung big time on the credit cards.  The first ones were issued to the cadre and the really big time businessmen.  They have not been good about re-paying.

and? Isn't that a just plain Visa or Mastercard?

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