Currency, ATMs and Cash in China: What Still Works

How much cash you need

Less than you think: ¥300–500 per person covers a week of edge cases (donations, rural stops, tips for private drivers where allowed). Nearly everything else goes through Alipay/WeChat Pay (see our payments guide).

ATMs that take foreign cards

Bank of China, ICBC and China Construction Bank ATMs in airports and city centres accept Visa/Mastercard on the Plus/Cirrus networks. Choose the English screen, decline 「dynamic currency conversion」 and always bill in CNY. Withdrawal caps are typically ¥3,000–5,000 per transaction; hotel-lobby ATMs are the most foreigner-friendly fallback.

Exchanging notes

Bank counters exchange major currencies with passport; rates are official and spreads narrow. Airports exchange too, with slightly worse rates and shorter queues than city branches. Avoid hotel exchange desks (2–4% worse) and street illegal changers entirely.

Denomination strategy

Ask for ¥20s and ¥10s — vendors often can't break a ¥100 note for a ¥12 purchase. A ¥100 note stays useful for metro top-ups and convenience stores. Coins (¥1) are fading but still accepted everywhere.