ATMs, Cash and Currency Exchange in China
Withdrawal limits, which banks actually accept foreign cards, why you should not buy renminbi at home, and how much cash is worth carrying in a country that barely uses it.
China is the most cashless large economy in the world and cash is still the thing that saves your trip when something goes wrong.
Those two statements are both true, and the practical conclusion is narrower than most advice suggests: you need some renminbi, you need less than you think, and the way you get it matters more than the amount.
How much cash do you actually need?
¥500 to ¥1,000 for a one-week trip is the right range for most travellers. Two or three hundred if you are staying in major cities and confident with mobile payment; more if you are going rural.
What cash is actually for:
- A dead or lost phone. This is the main one. Without a phone you cannot pay, ride the metro, hail a taxi or read a map. Cash is the only offline fallback that exists.
- Village stalls, rural guesthouses and small markets where the operator may not have a functioning QR setup.
- Taxi drivers whose payment terminal is not working.
- Small donations at temples and shrines.
- Breaking down a situation where your card has been declined and you need to eat.
What cash is not for: ordinary shopping, restaurants, transport, tickets or hotels in any city. Those are all mobile payment, and pulling out notes will frequently produce a small pause while somebody finds the change.
Do not buy renminbi before you leave
Exchange rates for RMB outside China are consistently poor, and the spread at an airport bureau at either end is worse.
Withdrawing from a Chinese ATM on arrival gets you the interbank rate plus your own bank's charges, which is almost always better than anything you can arrange at home.
The exception: carry a small emergency reserve — perhaps ¥200 to ¥300, or the equivalent in US dollars or euros — for the first hour if you are arriving late at a small airport. Accept the bad rate on that small amount and get the rest properly.
Withdrawing at an ATM
Which banks work
Bank of China (中国银行) and ICBC (工商银行) are the most reliable for foreign cards. Both have wide coverage in cities and at airports, and their machines have English interfaces.
China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of Communications generally work too.
Smaller local and rural banks often do not. In a small town, look for one of the big four rather than trying the nearest machine.
Airport ATMs in the arrivals area work and are the sensible first stop. Take enough at the airport to cover a few days rather than hunting for a machine in the city the next morning.
Look for the network logos
Your card needs to be on a network the machine accepts. Look for UnionPay, plus Visa, Mastercard, Cirrus or Maestro logos on the machine.
UnionPay is the domestic network and is on essentially every machine. A UnionPay-enabled card from home, if you have one, will have the fewest problems.
Limits
Limits stack in three layers and all three apply.
Per transaction: commonly ¥2,500 to ¥3,000, varying by bank and machine. Bank of China's published figure for foreign cards has been ¥3,000.
Per day: typically up to around ¥10,000 across all machines.
Per month and per year: foreign-card cash withdrawal in China is subject to cumulative caps — reported around USD 5,000 equivalent per month and USD 10,000 equivalent per year. These are irrelevant for a normal holiday and matter for long stays.
Your own bank has separate limits. Check them before you go, and raise them if they are low.
Fees
The Chinese bank charges roughly ¥20 to ¥30 per withdrawal, sometimes disclosed on screen and sometimes not.
Your own bank charges a foreign ATM fee, possibly a percentage, plus an exchange margin.
The practical consequence: withdraw larger amounts less often. Two withdrawals of ¥2,500 cost roughly half the fees of five withdrawals of ¥1,000. Take out what you need for the trip in one or two goes rather than topping up every other day.
If the machine says no
Try the sequence:
- Try again, and try a different machine at the same branch.
- Try a different bank. Bank of China is the most reliable single answer.
- Try a smaller amount. ¥2,000 sometimes succeeds where ¥3,000 fails.
- Try inside the branch during opening hours, where staff can help.
- Try your second card. Always carry one.
Choose "no conversion" if offered. Some machines offer to charge you in your home currency — dynamic currency conversion — at a rate that is worse than your bank's. Always decline and let your own bank do the conversion.
Exchanging cash at a bank
If you are carrying foreign notes, you can change them at a Chinese bank.
Take your passport. Currency exchange is a real-name transaction and there is no way around this.
Go to a large branch of a major bank. Bank of China is the most experienced with foreign customers. Small branches may not offer the service.
Expect paperwork. A form, a passport scan, and a wait. This is not a two-minute transaction and it is not available at every counter.
Keep the receipt. You need it if you want to convert unused renminbi back at the end of your trip.
Hotel exchange desks at large international hotels are convenient and rated worse than a bank. Use them for a small amount when a bank is closed.
Airport exchange counters are the worst rate available. Use them only for the emergency reserve.
Notes, and the things nobody mentions
Denominations run ¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥20, ¥50 and ¥100, with coins for ¥1 and small fractional units.
The ¥100 note is the problem. ATMs dispense them almost exclusively, and small vendors frequently cannot break one. A street food stall being asked for change on ¥100 for a ¥8 purchase is an awkward interaction.
Break large notes early, at a convenience store, a supermarket or a chain coffee shop, and keep a supply of ¥10s and ¥20s.
Multiple note series circulate. The current 2019 series and older designs are both legal tender and both in use. Older notes look noticeably different. This is normal.
Counterfeits exist, most commonly ¥100s, and most commonly passed as change by an unofficial taxi or a street changer rather than by a shop. The practical protection is simple: get cash from bank ATMs and never change money with an individual on the street, which is illegal as well as unwise. The scams guide covers the pattern where a driver swaps a real note for a fake while "checking" it.
Damaged notes can be refused by vendors. Banks will exchange them.
Where a physical card still works
Between mobile payment and cash there is a third option that gets forgotten, and for large amounts it is the cheapest one.
Hotels accept foreign credit cards almost universally, including for the deposit. This is the single best use of a physical card in China — hotel bills are large, and paying by card avoids the roughly 3% service fee that Alipay applies above ¥200.
International-brand chains, department stores and airport retail generally take Visa and Mastercard.
Airlines and rail booking platforms take foreign cards.
Large restaurants in tourist districts often do; small ones usually do not.
Almost nothing else. Street vendors, markets, small shops, taxis, metro stations and rural businesses are mobile payment or cash, and a card is not useful.
UnionPay is the domestic network. If your home bank offers a UnionPay-branded card, it will be accepted far more widely than Visa or Mastercard and often without the foreign-card surcharge. This is worth investigating before a long trip.
Card terminals frequently require a signature rather than a PIN for foreign cards, and the staff member may need a moment to work out how. Be patient rather than assuming it has failed.
Bringing cash in and out
Declaration threshold. Cash above the published limits must be declared at customs — the thresholds are set in both renminbi and foreign currency terms. The customs guide covers the current figures and the declaration process.
Ordinary tourist amounts are far below the threshold. If you are carrying an unusual sum, check the figure before you fly rather than at the red channel.
Leaving with renminbi. There is a limit on how much you may take out. Again, ordinary amounts are not affected.
What to do with leftover renminbi
Spend it. Airport shops, a final meal, duty free. This is the least lossy option.
Convert it back at a bank before you go to the airport, with your passport and your original exchange receipt. Without the receipt, the process is more difficult.
Keep it. If there is any chance you will return, ¥300 in a drawer is a better arrival than a bureau de change queue.
Do not convert small amounts at the airport. The rate and the minimum fee will consume most of it.
A note on Hong Kong and Macau
Different currencies and different systems.
Hong Kong dollars and Macanese patacas are separate currencies. Renminbi is accepted in parts of both, generally at a poor rate.
Your Alipay setup works differently across the boundary. Hong Kong has its own payment ecosystem — Octopus for transport, widespread card acceptance — and Mainland mobile payment coverage there is partial.
ATMs in Hong Kong are straightforward for foreign cards, with better acceptance and generally lower friction than the Mainland.
If your trip crosses into Hong Kong or Macau, plan the currencies separately. The Guangdong and Hong Kong itinerary covers the practical differences.
The short version
- Set up Alipay with a bound foreign card before you fly. That is your primary payment method.
- Withdraw ¥1,000 to ¥2,000 at the arrivals ATM from Bank of China or ICBC.
- Decline any offer to convert to your home currency.
- Break the ¥100 notes early.
- Carry a second card from a different bank.
- Keep cash somewhere other than where you keep your phone.
Official sources
- Bank of China, ATM and personal banking information: https://www.boc.cn/en/
- People's Bank of China: http://www.pbc.gov.cn/en/
- China Customs, currency declaration: http://english.customs.gov.cn/
Withdrawal limits, bank fees, cumulative caps and customs declaration thresholds all change. Confirm current figures before relying on them.
Last reviewed: 30 July 2026.