Currency

At present, there are 19 kinds of foreign currency cash which can be converted in China, including US dollar, Euro, pound sterling, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Japanese yen, Swiss franc, Danish kroner, Norwegian kroner, Swedish kroner, Hong Kong dollar, Macao dollar, Singapore dollar, Philippine peso, Thai baht, Korean dollar, New Zealand dollar, NT dollar and Brazilian real. Generally speaking, it is most convenient to exchange RMB with US dollar and Euro in various banks in Beijing.

The currency of China is the Chinese Renminbi, abbreviated as RMB or CNY. At the moment of this writing, the exchange rate of USD to RMB is 1 to 6.8. In Beijing, Chinese banknotes and coins are required for taxis and public-transport ticket machines, Alipay and Wechat are also accepted. Restaurants, cafeterias, regular and major shops, etc. also accept Mastercard, Visa credit card, Alipay and Wechat pay. Note that American Express credit cards are typically not accepted, and checks are not accepted at all.

If you need Chinese RMB and have not brought them with you from home, you can still acquire them in the public areas of the airports: (1) Ice Currency Exchange booth is besides the International Arrival Exit. The United Money Currency Exchange booth is on the first floor of Terminal 2 in the Arrival Hall. No matter how much the exchange amount is, the commission fee is 60 RMB. (2) Industrial and Commercial Bank of China is besides Ice Currency Exchange booth. The business time of the banks is 9:00a.m.-5:00p.m. from Monday to Sunday. (3) The ATM machines with Visa and MasterCard logos can be cashed with Visa and MasterCard credit cards. These machines are open 24*7 hours. The upper limit of cash withdrawal is 20,000 RMB a day.