Currency
Written by Jennifer
In China they use paper money
and coins just like in America,
but with a different system. A yuan is equivalent to about
$0.124729 in American currency. Another thing that’s different is
that yuan is the written form and “kuai” is how they pronounce
it. Long ago in China, tea used to be used as money. Tea
wasn’t traded, it was actually used for currency.
Chinese money is based
off
of the decimal system. It consists of paper money and
coins. The smallest coin is the fen. Ten fen make up one
jiau or one mao. 10 jiau (or mao) make up one yuan.
Chinese paper money comes in six denominations. 5 jiau, 1 yuan,
50 yuan, and 100 yuan. Ordinary Chinese numbers are easy to write
and forge, so for banknotes and for other financial stuff they use a
different set of Chinese characters
that aren’t very easy to forge. |
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Like most other countries, China’s money has a
political meaning to it. The front of the Chinese paper money has
a portrait and the back has a famous landmark. The 100 yuan today
has a picture of the four founders of the Peoples’ Republic of
China. From the right we have Mao Zedong, Enlia, Liu Shaoqu, and
then Zhu Zedong.
Here is a description
of
some of the paper
money. The 10 yuan in 1999 had a picture of Chairman Mao Zedong
on the front. He lived from 1893 to 1976. He was one of the
leaders to establish the Peoples’ Republic of China. If you take
the bill and you hold it up to the light, you can see a rose and the
number10. This bill is 5 1/2 inches by 2 3/4 inches. The
bill depicts Mt. Everest (Qomolongma) on the reverse,
along with farmers on the obverse side.
Next, we have the 10 yuan from 1980.
This bill says “happily co-existing together to make a better and more
prosperous China”. The 10 yuan from 1965 is next. It stands
for Chinese workers and the reconstruction of China. On the front
there is a picture of four Chinese workers that stand or the “Four
Modernizations.” The “Four Modernizations” are industry,
agriculture, military, and science. On the back there is a
picture of Tiananmen Square.
All the 10 yuan is equivalent to $1.20 in the
U.S. 8.27 yuan is equivalent to $1 in the U.S.
Now we move on to the
20
yuan in 1999.
On the front is a picture of Chairman Mao Zedong. Again, if you
hold it up to the light, you can see a rose and the number 20. On
the back there is a picture of the Li River near Guillin. 20 yuan
is equivalent to $2.42 U.S.dollars. The bill is 145mm by 69 mm.
Next we move on to the 50 yuan from
1999. On the front is Chairman Moa Zedong and again if you hold
it up to the light you’ll see a rose and the number 50. There is
also a metal strip running vertically across the number 50 to make
counterfitting more difficult. On the back it is a picture of the
Porola Palace in Tabet. 50 yuan is equivalent to $6.04 In the
U.S. The bill is 6 inches by 2 inches. Last, we have the
100 yuan from 1999. On the front
you’ll see Chairman Mao Zedong with again the rose and the number
100. On the back is a picture of the Peoples’ Hall. 100
yuan is equivalent to $12.08 in the U.S. The U.S. dollar is 6
by 2 inches. In China there is a big problem of counterfeiting,
but hopefully there soon will be none. Before they invented coins
in China, they used cowie shells instead.
Sources: http://www.theepochtimes.com/news_images/2004-7-27-china-currency.jpg
http://www.tourroundchina.com/img/coin02.jpg
http://www.lystad.us/china/misc-jpg/twenty-yuan.jpg
http://www.paulnoll.com/china/money/china-PRC-money-choices.html
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