Currency exchange

The renminbi (literally “people’s currency”) is the legal tender in Chinese mainland. At present, Chinese paper denominations include 1 yuan, 5 yuan, 10 yuan, 20 yuan, 50 yuan, and 100 yuan. There are three types of coins with denominations of 1 jiao, 5 jiao, and 1 yuan.

Features of the pictures on banknotes

Printed on the front of the six Chinese paper denominations is the portrait of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong,the founding father of the People's Republic of China. The lining uses a pattern of famous Chinese flowers.

On the back, pictures of the Great Hall of the People, the Potala Palace, karst landscapes in Guilin, the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River, Mount Tai, and Hangzhou’s West Lake can be found on the six banknotes. These images with national features fully express the long history and spectacular landscapes of our great motherland and promote the brilliance of Chinese culture.

1-yuan note

At the backing of the front of the note is an orchid. Orchids are one of the four gentleman-like flowers and are known for being “noble, elegant and loyal.”The image used on the back is known as “Three Pools Mirroring the Moon,”one of the ten top sceneries at Hangzhou’s West Lake.

5-yuan note

At the backing of the front of the bill is a narcissus, which has a graceful name as “a fairy walking on ripples,” is adored by Chinese people. On the back is Mount Tai, which is the most prominent mountain in China’s history and located in Tai’an, Shandong province.

10-yuan note

At the backing of the front of the note is a Chinese rose, which is honored as “the queen of flowers” with its graceful shape and rich color. On the back is the Gate of Kui which is at the entrance of the Qutang Gorge. As the west gate of the Three Gorges, it is the shortest one of the three but also the grandest and the most precipitous.