The Best Ways to Take Travel Money to China

Notes

The notes are structured in the same way New Zealand ones are. The notes themselves are designed differently, but they are the same type. Chinese Yuan are made up of:

¥1, ¥5, ¥10, ¥20, ¥50, ¥100.

There is no difference. The Chinese currency is referred as Renminbi and Yuan and they are the same thing.

The official name for the currency is Renminbi, which literally translates to People's Currency and is abbreviated to RMB. The most widespread international usage is Yuan, which is abbreviated to CNY.

1000 Renminbi = 1000 Yuan

While the official currency is Renminbi, the basic unit is the Yuan (also known as Kuai), you will most commonly see it signified with the Chinese character 元 in shops or restaurants.

Exchange rates change frequently, and every provider offers different rates. This makes it hard to say what the cheapest way and place to exchange currency is.

When you're travelling to a place like China you can often get good exchange rates when you arrive because Kiwi travellers go there frequently. This means money exchangers in China are happy to trade between NZD and CNY.

Just steer clear of exchanging currency at the airport. On both ends, the rates will be much worse there than in the city centres.

To find the best way to buy CNY, you can read our guide here.

For prepaid cards, you're able to load the card with a set amount of money in the currencies you need. Ideally you do this before your trip, but often you can reload them as well.

Most prepaid travel cards allow for multiple currencies to be loaded onto the card. So it's important to know what currency you'll be using on your travels. Airlines also offer prepaid cards so the money you spend can earn you reward points.

With prepaid travel cards you need to be careful, as they can have numerous fees and charges which can make it more expensive than other options. But if you're organised and travelling to multiple cities a prepaid travel card is a good option.

Credit cards have obviously been around for a long time. But now there are specialised travel credit cards. Generally, these cards give you longer to pay back what you've spent but the interest rates after this time can be quite high.

The main advantage with credit cards are the reward points you get in return for your customer loyalty when you spend. But it only works if you pay off the balance in full each month.

Credit cards are great to use for car hire, restaurants and accommodation - larger expenses that are easier for you to pay back over time. Some services only take credit cards to hold purchases so they can definitely be handy while you're travelling.

The 28 Degrees Platinum Mastercard is our best value travel credit card. With this card:

• There are no annual fees
• No overseas purchase fee or currency conversion fee
• You get 55 days interest free on purchases
• Access to free 24/7 concierge service
• Emergency card replacement worldwide

The 28 Degrees Platinum Mastercard has additional benefits including shoppers and repayments benefits cover. For more information read our review.

When it comes to travelling in China, there is a big difference between there and New Zealand. Let's have a look at the cost difference between some food and activities in China and New Zealand:

New Zealand vs China

In this table, we have a comparison of some things you might do in China. The prices are approximate, and can change between different cities in China.

The answer to this question really depends on the type of holiday you're planning. Will you be backpacking and staying in hostels? Will you be living it up at a fancy hotel? If you want to do it on a budget, you easily can or you can splurge and go on a luxury holiday.

China can be a slightly more expensive country to visit, compared with other Asian destinations. Having said this, there are ways you can cut costs if you need to.

Here we have listed an estimate of what you'd need, per person, per day depending on your holiday.

Budget holiday: $100NZD

Middle of the range holiday:  $100 - $350NZD

Luxury holiday: At least $350NZD

Like flying anywhere in the world, flights between New Zealand and China can change depending the time of year. Having said this, there are often sales that can get you there quite cheaply.

The flight prices also depend on where in New Zealand you're flying from but from most capital cities you can easily get a direct flight.

Generally the average cost of a return flight to Beijing Capital International Airport from Auckland will cost you about $800 - $1800NZD.

Utilising tours is a great way to meet other travellers and learn about the area you're in. If you're looking to have a completely guided tour, you could consider looking into companies like Intrepid, World Journeys or Peregrine. But even on a smaller scale, you can often find guided tours to different parts of the country which can usually be organised through your hotel or hostel. These may set you back a small fee to cover the cost.

Viator is a great website to get information about tours you can do throughout China!

You can somewhat be flexible about how much you spend on accomodation when you get to China. If you're keeping it low key and don't want to spend much, there are hostels, or you could live it up! Below are some rough guides to how much you can expect to pay.

Accomodation on a budget, like hostels cost about $50 to $125NZD a night.

Mid-range accomodation like a double room in a 3 star hotel will probably cost between $125 and $350NZD a night.

A double luxury hotel room will cost from $350NZD up to as much as you're willing to spend per night.

Using the following sites will give you an even better idea of how much the accomodation you're after will cost you.

• Booking.com
• AirBnB
• Agoda