China's official currency is the Renminbi (literally "People's Money") and is internationally traded as the Yuan.
There are 2 sub groups to the Yuan. The Jiao and the Fen.
1 Yuan = 10 Jiao
1 Jiao = 10 Fen
Therefore 1 Yuan = 100 Fen
The colloquial term for Yuan is the `Kuai' and for the Jiao is `Mao'.
The denominations of the notes are:
Yuan
100
50
20
10
5
1
5
2 (sorry I don't have a picture)
1
The denominations for the coins are:
1 Yuan
5 Jiao
1 Jiao
5 Fen
2 Fen
1 Fen
The RMB is tied (loosely they say) to the US$ where US$1 = RMB 8.08.
Based on todays cross exchange with the US$ - A$1 = RMB 5.97
1 Yuan = A$ 0.168 - say 17cents.
1 Jiao = A$ 0.017 - 1.7cents
1 Fen = $A 0.0017 - .17 of a cent
The trick is to look at the notes so you don't mix up the Jiao and the Yuan notes (like when I tried the pay a taxi driver 12Yuan, but instead gave him 10 Yuan and 2 Jiao - he wasn't too impressed).
All the Yuan notes have a picture of the man himself - Chairman Mao. So if you see Mao's smiling face looking up at you, then its a full Yuan. If no Mao its a Jiao.
The other way to tell a Yuan from a Jiao is on the notes themselves. The Jiao all say Jiao on them under the number Wu Jiao (5 Jiao), Er Jiao (2 Jiao) and Yi Jiao (1 Jiao).
On the coins, the 1 Yuan coin is the biggest, and it says Yi Yuan (1 Yuan). The 5 Jiao coin is gold and says Wu Jiao (5 Jiao) and the 1 Jiao coin is small and silver and says Yi Jiao (1 Jiao).
The Fen coins are basically worthless, but they are easy to tell as they are very tinny and have only a number on it (ie. it doesn't actually say Fen).
i have some of the 2 jiao bills if you would like pictures i also have better ones of the 5 and 1
Posted by: carrie | 10 March 2007 at 08:03 AM
Hehe, there are still two-yuan bills floating around in Shanghai, although hard to find. But don't get surprised when you see one. :)
Posted by: Neil | 22 June 2007 at 05:57 AM
Posted by: hildebrando menezes | 16 October 2007 at 02:10 AM
Hi! I just came back from China (nov 2007) and Im reading your article a bit too late. We were scamed a few times:
- We were given a 100 bill that looked like a yuan, but it was actually 100 Taiwan Dollar (100 = 3 USD, meaning 5 times less value than the yuan)
- We were given Jiaos instead of yuans
- We were given lots of fake 20 yuans, some of the replicas are really good and dificult to spot unless you look for the ghost image on all of them, which is sometimes dificult to do, as theres not always the time to do it.
- We were approached by 2 girls that were very friendly that ended up inviting us to see a tea sample. At the end the bill was more expensive that a dinner at the M on the Bund.
I know this people dont care about the impression they give to tourists as long as they get inmmediate benefits, but Im thinking ahead for the Olimpics and theres going to be lots of scams and lots of dissapointed people!! Be aware!
Posted by: des | 07 December 2007 at 06:44 AM
Hi Des,
Sorry to hear about your unpleasant experience in China. I think your experience is worth highlighting on the blog as we do have many readers that actually research our site before coming to China for the first time.
Would you be able to get in touch with me via email and tell me more about it?
Posted by: David | 08 December 2007 at 11:25 AM
i have a 1 yi jaio,
how much is that in canadian
Posted by: cassandra | 08 March 2008 at 05:31 AM
Cassandra
About 1.5 cents!
Don't spend it all at once.
Posted by: Brad | 08 March 2008 at 09:48 AM
I found a 1 Yi Jiao dated 1962 with pictures of farm workers on it. Is it worth anything more than its face value?
Posted by: Michelle | 02 April 2008 at 07:32 AM
Hi Michelle,
Try asking around some shops..you never know what offer you may get!
Posted by: David | 02 April 2008 at 07:38 PM
hi, i have a 100 yuan... i think, its the very top bill in the pictures at teh top, the red one. and i was wondering how much it would be worth in us dollars?
Posted by: dudemanguy | 14 June 2008 at 06:29 AM
Hi,
At the time of writing, its about 14.5USD
Posted by: David | 14 June 2008 at 08:33 AM
I lived in Wuxi, China teaching at the Guanghua school there. It took me a little while to get the hang of the money system, but once I got it I found it was a lot of fun. I liked the fact that the money is so brightly colored. It makes it a lot easier to know exactly how much you have to work with. I was lucky the 6 months I lived in China. I never had an experience with anyone scamming me or getting fake money. I think part of the key to that is looking like you know what you are doing. If people think you don't know how much stuff costs they are going to rip you off like crazy. Be smart, look smart and act smart and I think most people will be fine.
Posted by: Erica | 17 July 2008 at 01:20 AM
I was in Shanghai for almost 3 weeks and i was fortunate enough that I was never scammed. I loved the city from Pudong to Puxi. I hate the way people SPIT everywhere though, even inside cinema houses. By the way, are yuan really traded internationally? I thought the RMB's cannot be officially traded/bought from outside China - like the rest of currencies coming from communist countries (like Vietnam, Laos, Cuba). Just a thought. Great site.
Posted by: brian | 28 July 2008 at 05:03 AM
Hi Brian,
Yes, that used to be the case but due to liberisation of the world's economy in recent years, the yuan is now quite easily available any where.
Posted by: David | 28 July 2008 at 11:24 PM
It was worth visiting on this page
Posted by: vikas tripathi | 20 December 2008 at 10:02 PM
Hi,
I have a 5 dollar Wu Jiao, and I'm going to China in a few weeks. Will I be able to spend the Wu Jiao in China?
Posted by: Emma | 09 March 2009 at 06:13 AM
yes..you can..
Posted by: David Tan | 09 March 2009 at 12:24 PM
I have the following money, what is it worth on 8/18/09 ?
Please clarify each line. Thank you.
Qty
(1) 10 Yuan Shi
(4) 5 Yuan
(1) 2 Yuan Er
(9) 1 Yuan
(4) 1 Yuan Yi
SUB GROUP OF YUAN 10 = 1 YUAN
(16) 5 Jiano Wu
(3) 2 Jiao Er
(8) 1 Jiano Ji
Posted by: Nancy | 19 August 2009 at 03:42 AM
Hi. Just wanted to say thanks for explaining the colloquial word kuai. Was wondering how that fit in. Now I can figure out the conversions.
Posted by: Brad F. | 05 December 2009 at 04:05 PM
still dont understand what the value of a 5 wu jiao is how much in usa dollars
Posted by: marceia callahan | 10 January 2010 at 12:13 PM
Its about US 5 cents
Posted by: David Tan | 10 January 2010 at 07:21 PM
Hi, I have a 2 Er Yuan note with what looks like two western ladies on the front and a sea coast scene and 5 or 6 written scripts on the back:chinese, arabic, indian ???? Can anybody enlighten me? Where is it from?
Posted by: ashley taylor | 07 March 2010 at 10:29 AM
I have an Asian coin year 2006, silver in color,4 Chinese figures below 100. On Reverse is Image of man long beard, prominent hat, Chinese figures to right and left of man.
What country is this coin from? What is the denomination? Anything else you can tell me about this coin will be very much appreciated.
Mary
Posted by: Mary Smith | 17 July 2010 at 01:59 PM
Thank you this helped A TON I have some old yuan that if guessing on your photos they are discontinued and I now have the yuan,jiao and fen figured out and for that person how got ripped off in China thanks for the tip I'll do my best to count my change when visiting ^^
Posted by: Toshi | 12 February 2011 at 12:43 PM
i have a yi yuan coin that has 1 on it is it a penny or what im not really sure. i got it from toco bell they thought it was a quarter.
Posted by: christy | 11 March 2011 at 09:18 AM
@Mary the Asian coin you refer to is the south Korean won. Worth about 9 cents USD.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Korean_won
Posted by: Sacora | 11 June 2011 at 11:57 AM
I have 5 chinese yuan and a 1 chinese yuan a 5 yuan is worth 5 cents 1 yuan is worth 1 cent
Posted by: fra | 06 July 2011 at 02:17 AM
Hi im doing a project on the 1 yi jiao can i get some intresting info about this chinese note.
Posted by: Austin Ashwell | 06 December 2011 at 12:37 AM
hi, I have 1 yiyuan how much is this in Ghana cedis or US dollas please.
Posted by: gloria | 14 November 2012 at 06:50 PM
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Posted by: Debra | 21 January 2014 at 10:56 AM
Hi. I received a on of these bills. It says 1980 on it. How do I tell of it a fake. It's BRAND NEW. I didn't pay for it. But i collect money. Something seems fishy about it. Any info would be amazing thanks
Posted by: mike | 20 April 2015 at 03:02 AM
i have been wondering i have a jiao bill but says "ER JIAO" instead of "WU JIAO" help!!!!!!!
Posted by: unknown | 23 May 2015 at 01:31 AM
Hi,how much is 1 yi yuan and 5 wu jiao in kenyan shillings?
Posted by: grace | 05 October 2015 at 04:33 AM