If Ben really understood China...

... he'd know about the pesky, oft-forgot 2 RMB note. You see, I have aspirations, as well: to thwart Ben's attempts to achieve his own life's goals, including visits to all the places portrayed on the back of Chinese currency.


Now, according to Wikipedia (which we know never lies), the Chinese Central Bank stopped issuing 2 RMB notes in 2004. And this note -- dated 1980 (however printed between 1987 and 1997) -- is truly a keeper. So maybe Ben gets off on a technicality here. But I thought I'd give him a fair chance to put to bed any asterisks in the record books. I'm not even sure where that image on the back of the 2 RMB note is located. It appears the old 10 RMB note displays Mt. Everest, and I'd be willing to accept just base camp.

Another interesting "bucket list" item would be pictures alongside the ethnic minorities on current notes (less than 1 RMB), as well as all Fourth Series notes (which is the series preceding the current Fifth Series notes). Ethnic dress would be required, of course.

1-jiao note has Gaoshan and Manchu men ;
2-jiao note has Buyei and Korean girls;
5-jiao note has Miao and Zhuang girls in red.
Old 1-yuan (i.e. "1 RMB") note has Dong and Yao girls in red;
Old 2-yuan note has Uyghur and Yi (Nuosu) girls in green;
Old 5-yuan note has Tibetan girl and a Hui elder;
Old 10-yuan note has Han and Mongol men.

This pecuniary journey would be most appropriate for our study-abroad buddy Tyler, who is now a cultural anthropologist and spent his one-on-one course learning the many wonders of China's 56 officially-recognized ethnic minorities.

This time wasted on Wikipedia also alerted to me that at several moments in recent Chinese history the central bank issued special commemorative notes. Has anyone else come across these? I would pay (more than face value) for any of these. Well, less than face value, too, for that matter.

Commemorative designs

In 1999, a commemorative red ¥50 note was issued in honor of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Republic of China. This note features Mao Zedong on the front and various animals on the back.

An orange polymer note, and so far, China's only polymer note, commemorating the new millennium was issued in 2000 with a face value of ¥100. This features a dragon on the obverse and the reverse has a sundial.

For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a green ¥10 note was issued featuring the Bird's Nest on the front with the back showing a classical Olympic discus thrower and various other athletes.