Money
Cash, cards and changing money
You need cash in China less often than you would think, but going entirely without it is risky.
Three ways to pay and how to combine them
Mobile payment is the main method. Alipay and WeChat Pay are accepted everywhere, including street food and taxis; a foreigner can officially link a number of overseas cards.
A bank card used directly works in hotels, large shops, international chains and most shopping-centre restaurants. Small places may have no terminal at all.
Cash is the reserve. By law it is accepted everywhere, and it is what saves you when a card is declined or an account is temporarily frozen.
What works: mobile payment as your main method, a card as the backup and a few days’ worth of cash in your pocket.
Where to change money into yuan
A bank branch
The official rate and a lawful transaction. You need your passport and it is processed as a full transaction: allow time. Rates are much the same across banks — there is no point shopping around.
The airport exchange desk
Open round the clock and useful the moment you land, but the rate is noticeably worse than a bank’s. Change only a little — enough for the journey and the first evening.
The ATM
Often better value than changing cash: you get yuan at your own bank’s rate. It works with foreign cards, subject to a per-transaction limit and your issuer’s fee.
Withdraw larger amounts less often rather than small amounts frequently: the fee is usually fixed per transaction.
The hotel
Many hotels change money for their guests. Convenient, but the rate is worse than a bank’s; an option for a small amount late at night.
Careful
Changing money privately or through an advert in a messenger is not merely a bad rate. It is an unlawful transaction, and both sides face the consequences. Bureaux in tourist areas almost always lose on the rate.
Practical details
Large notes are hard to break in small shops and taxis. Ask for part of the amount in small denominations.
Individuals face annual limits on currency transactions — irrelevant for a trip, but worth knowing about if you are moving.
Tell your bank about the trip in advance: anti-fraud triggering on the very first transaction in China is extremely common.
Keep a second card from a different bank apart from the first. That rule pays off exactly once, but completely.
Changing yuan back is possible at a bank but requires proof of the original transaction — keep the receipts if you plan to change money back.
Tip
The current rate is in the “Exchange rate” quick tool on this site — it converts both ways and shows when the rate was last updated.
Checked: 4 September 2026
Editor: The PANDA editorial team
What you can hand to PANDA
Sources
- People’s Bank of Chinaofficial source
- State Administration of Foreign Exchange of the PRCofficial source
- PRC government portal for foreignersofficial source
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