The lowest amount of money in China is known as the fen. Fen basically represent an American penny, but have much less value than that. Because of increasing rates in China, the fen is almost extinct, but they can still be found and exchanged as value.
The next step up from the fen is the jiao. The jiao is worth 100 fen and has been issued as both a coin and a banknote in denominations of either 1 jiao or 5 jiao. 10 jiao equals one yuan.
The largest form of currency in China is the yuan. The yuan translates to "dollar" and is the main form of currency. Yuan is available in denominations that include a half yuan, 1 yuan, 2 yuan, 5 yuan, 10, 20, 50, and 100 yuan. Lower yuan are available as coins, but most of it is printed as bank notes.
While China uses the fen, jiao, and yuan, changes in power throughout history have created a rollercoaster ride of different currencies and printed money. During the 1920s, 30s, and 40s, the country relied mainly on silver in order to produce money. Certain parts of China, like Hong Kong, rely on different currency than the mainland. Visitors to China from the 1970s until the early 1990s were required to use special foreign money until outsiders were finally allowed to exchange money for renminbi.
The biggest change in Chinese money came during the late 1940s when the Communist Party of China gained power over the nation. A new currency was issued with the same names like yuan, but it featured the name renminbi after it in order to tell the difference. For example, one yuan renminbi was worth 100,000 regular yuan. This created a huge currency conversion in China, and the renminbi system is still used today.
