Do I still need cash in China, and how do I get it?

Cash is a backup, not the plan. With a foreign card in Alipay or WeChat Pay you will pay almost everything by QR. Where cash still matters: when your wallet app declines and you have no second card; tiny stalls and older vendors who only show a personal collection QR (which foreign cards can't pay); temple donations, some public toilets, coin lockers, and rural areas. Keep ¥300–500, mostly in ¥10 and ¥20 notes.

The law is on your side, and has been for years: refusing renminbi cash was already prohibited under the PBoC's 2020 announcement. The joint PBoC / NDRC / NFRA《人民币现金收付及服务规定》, effective 1 February 2026, refines it: in face-to-face settings where the business is able to take cash, it may not refuse cash, induce others to refuse it, or discriminate against cash payers; the rule carves out cases where law requires non-cash payment, and online orders are handled differently. Enforcement is by complaint to the local PBoC branch, after the fact — PBoC publishes penalty lists quarterly. It gets you a remedy, not a faster checkout.

Getting yuan: withdraw at ATMs that show your card network's logo — the official guides name Visa and Mastercard specifically, and machines differ in which networks they accept. Bank of China, ICBC and China Construction Bank are the ones travellers name as most reliable; confirm the machine fee, your own bank's fee and the per-withdrawal limit on screen, as these vary by bank and card. ATMs dispense ¥100 notes.

Break the notes early. ¥100 is the largest note and stalls routinely cannot change it. Convenience stores (FamilyMart, Lawson, 7-Eleven), metro ticket machines and supermarket tills will.

Exchange counters, hotels and kiosks showing “EXCHANGE 货币兑换” change foreign currency. Changing unused yuan back at departure: up to the equivalent of US$500 a day on your passport alone; above that you need the original exchange receipt (valid 24 months). Currencies and exact rules depend on the bank or counter.

Physical cards: at merchants that have a POS terminal, UnionPay is accepted as a rule; Visa and Mastercard only where the logo is shown — hotels, malls, larger shops, station ticket offices. Foreign chip-and-PIN cards are not a way to pay at markets or small restaurants.