Chinacyber.com
MONEY
PRICING SYSTEM
CURRENCY: RENMINBI
CURRENCY EXCHANGE
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The cost of traveling in China varies widely depending on your itinerary and your willingness to make do without creature comforts. The average income and cost of living in China |
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are much lower than in the West, but this doesn't always translate into cheap accommodations and transportation for travelers. While food is inexpensive throughout the country (a good meal can often be had for US$2), a night's stay in any one of the boom towns on the east coast can be pricey, although further west the rooms get much cheaper. A dorm bed in Yangshuo runs a mere US$2 a night, but the cheapest accommodations in Tianjin star-t at US$15-20. This tremendous price disparity is in part due to the scarcity of dorm rooms open to foreigners in cities along China's eastern seaboard, especially outside Beijing, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. While cheap hotels and guesthouses do exist in east coast cities, most don't accept foreigners, who are thus relegated to midrange or better hotels with prices (but not necessarily facilities) to match. In popular backpacker destinations like Yunnan, Guangxi, Tibet, Sichuan, Gansu, and Xinjiang, it should be possible to keep costs down below US$15-20 a day, once you have shelled out the cash to get there; traveling on the east coast can be difficult to do for under US$30 a day. Don't sacrifice health or safety for a cheaper tab. No matter how low your budget, if you plan to travel for more than a couple of days, you will need to keep handy more cash than usual. Carrying cash with you, even in a money belt, is risky but necessary; credit cards and traveler's checks are not accepted in many locations, and finding a foreign ATM is difficult outside Be@ing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Macau, and Hong Kong.
PRICING SYSTEM
China is gradually getting rid of the govern ned tiered pricing system
which has for so long charged foreigners (i.e. non-Chinese) more than
overseas Chinese, and overseas Chinese more than mainlanders, for
transportation, accommodations, and admission to sights. The remnants of
this system are the admission prices levied at many of the most popular
sights in the country, which still charge foreigners one-and-a half or two
times more than Chinese.
CURRENCY: RENMINBI (RMB)OR YUAN (Y)
This currency chart is based on published exchange rates from August 1999. Tight PRC monetary policy has kept the currency's value fairly constant in recent years.
US$1=Y8.278 Y1=US$0.121
CDN$1=Y5.628
Y1=CDN$0.178
UKL1=Y13.149
Y1=UKLO.076
IRL1=Y1O.926 Y1=IRLO.092
AUS$1=Y5.454
Y1=AUS$0.183
NZ$1=Y4.439 Y1=NZ$0.225
SAR1=Y3.255
Y1=SARO.733
The standard unit of Chinese currency is the renminbi (RMB; "people's currency"), commonly referred to as the yuan. The yuan is divided into 10 units ofjiao and 100 units often; 10fen equals I jiao. Coins are issued in denominations of 1, 2, and 5 fen, 5 jiao and I yuan, with size and weight increasing with value. All coins except the bronze-colored 5jiao are silvery. The smaflerfen dominations are now rarely used. Paper currency comes in denominations of 1, 2, and 5jiao, along with 1, 2, 5, 10, 50, and 100 yuan. Paper bills differ in size based on value. Some vendors try to trick foreign tourists by giving change in the smallerjiao rather than the bigger yuan; be sure to receive bills of the correct size.
Almost all prices in China, as well as those in this
book, are posted in yuan decimal fonu. When referring to prices orally,
the Chinese usually substitute the colloquial kuai for yuan and mao for
jiao. For example, Y5 is pronounced wu kuai; YO.60, liu mao; and Y5.61, wu
kuai liu mao yi.
CURRENCY EXCHANGE
As a general rule, it's cheaper to convert money in China than abroad. It's good to bring enough foreign currency to last for the first 24-72 hours of a trip to avoid being penniless after banking hours or on a holiday. Travelers living in the U.S. can get foreign currency from the comfort of their homes; International Currency Express (tel. 888 842 0880) delivers foreign currency or traveler's checks overnight (US$17) or in two days (US$12) at competitive exchange rates.
In China, Hong Kong, and Macau, you can change money at any international airport, many upscale hotels (although the service is sometimes restricted to guests), and most banks, all for pretty competitive rates. Watch out for commission rates and check newspapers for the standard rate of exchange. Banks generally have the best rates. Also, money changers who offer good rates and stay open longer than the banks can be found on the streets of most major cities. However, while there is always a possibility that you will end up with a counterfeit bill or two wherever you exchange money in China, the chances are probably slightly greater on the street than in a bank. A good rule of thumb is only to go to banks or money changers that have at most a 5% margin between their buy and sell prices. Since you lose money with each transaction, convert in large sums, but don't convert more than you need, because it can be a hassle to change renminbi back into a foreign currency. Keep the receipt of the transaction; you will need it to convert any leftover Chinese currency you do end up with back into your home currency at the end of your trip. Also, using an ATM card or a credit card (see p. 71) often gets you the best possible rates, although this does not tend to be possible outside major urban centers.
In Hong Kong and Macau it should be possible to exchange most major currencies, but in China, bank tellers are more likely to exchange U.S. dollars than other currencies. If you use traveler's checks or bills, carry some in small denominations (US$50 or less), especially for times when you are forced to exchange money at disadvantageous rates. However, it is good to carry a range of denominations since charges may be levied per check cashed.
The black market for foreign currency persists in China to this day, although it is nowhere near as vigorous as it was in the days, when foreigners were required to pay for goods and services with a special currency, known as Foreign Exchange Certificates (FEC). The government wisely abolished the FEC in 1992. These days, changing money on the black market is only barely profitable to travelers, and you run the risk of being swindled or arrested.
