| These days seeing a Chinese banknote is not as common as you’d imagine, lots of people having converted to using online payment apps. At the till, you’ll see people flash their phones quickly at the cashier, or hold up their phone to scan a QR code much more often than you’ll see someone reach for their wallet. In some cases, smaller shops will refuse to accept your cash, though most places will just give you an eye roll as they search around for bits of change. Still, don’t worry — the majority of places accept cash no problem. The two most popular payment apps are WeChat and Alipay. To set up these payment systems you usually have to connect your bank card to the account and verify your identity with your passport or Chinese ID.  WeChat in Chinese is 微信 (wēi xìn) Alipay in Chinese is 支付宝 (zhī fù bǎo) Chinese bankcards can be used for both apps, and Alipay has started to accept some international cards too. You can either perform a small transaction to transfer money to your WeChat and Alipay accounts, or if you don’t have enough money in your account balance, money will be taken directly from the card you connected. WeChat has become particular popular for payment functions, such as the “split bill” option for group messages. The official name for China’s currency is ‘Renminbi’ 人民币 (Rénmínbì), which literally translates into English as ‘The People’s Currency’. It is often abbreviated to RMB. ‘Yuan’ 元 (Yuán) is the unit of measurement for the RMB, but is also used to refer to the currency as a whole: Chinese Yuan. This also has an abbreviation CNY, which is also used as the international code for the Chinese currency. The symbol for the Yuan is ¥. |
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