Money and Banking in Xinjiang: How to Pay and Use Money when Touring Xinjiang?
For any tour of Xinjiang, you will need to have local currency. For today's travelers, it's fairly easy to cash (RMB) to shop or other personal expenses in Xinjiang.
What kind of money to use in Xinjiang right now?
Modern currency in Xinjiang is the Chinese Yuan (often written as “CNY”), otherwise known as the Ren Min Bi (RMB). Currency comes in denominations of 0.1, 0.2, and 0.5 RMB bills (or 1, 2, and 5 Mao), as well as in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 RMB bills.
Unlike many Asian countries, only the Chinese currency can be used in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China, and dollars are not accepted by stores. In addition, while coins can be used in many Chinese locations for payment of small things such as bus tickets in vending machines, in Xinjiang coins(0.01,0.05 CNY) may not be accepted by sellers and shop-owners.
What kind of banks/ATMs available in Xinjiang?
Xinjiang has all of the five major banks of China, which are China Construction Bank , Bank of China, Agriculture Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of Communications.
The common problems some customers may face when using ATMs in Xinjiang include ATM fault, punch card failure and some others problems. Since each inter bank business relate to many steps, the mistakes may happen occasionally. Besides, network problem, cards degauss, bank problems also lead to business failure. In this case, customers can also call bank for help if you have problems.
Can I use the Credit Cards to pay for the dinner or shopping in Xinjiang?
Credit cards are now accepted in most parts of Xinjiang region. In addition, according to the Construction bank of China, there are no service charges applied to payments made through POS terminals in Xinjiang, and there is no minimum purchase amount.So, be careful when sellers ask for service charges.
If taking a Xinjiang Vista tour, how much extra money you will need to spend when touring in Xinjiang daily?
Once you have paid for your tour of Xinjiang, you can be assured that almost all of your expenses in the region are covered by the cost of your tour. This usually includes accommodation and travel expenses within the Xinjiang Autonomous Prefecture. In fact, the only expenses you should expect to pay outside your tour cost are for food and personal items.
For some tours, some of the meals you will have are provided as part of the tour, such as breakfast when the hotel offers it as part and parcel of the room. However, in some of the outlying lodges, the breakfast is an optional extra, so will not be included in the tour cost.
You will also have to pay for your own personal expenses, such as clothes, deodorants, etc, as well as any additional drinks and snacks that you wish to buy for yourself and others. Additionally, anything you wish to buy as a gift or souvenir is part of your own personal expenses, and is not included in the cost of the tour.
Conclusion
Though the use of currency, credit and debit cards are prevalent in Xinjiang. It is always best to make sure you have enough cash to cover your entire trip before you depart from mainland China for Xinjiang, to save you the hassle of the banking systems. And keep your currency to smaller bills, which are easier to use. Another tip I need to mention is that mobile payment ,such as Wechat Pay and AliPay, is also available in most parts of Xinjiang.
