Top 6 Attractions & Places to Visit on Chinese Banknotes

While the US uses the dollar, the official currency in China's mainland is Renminbi (RMB/人民币). The symbol of Renminbi is ￥ and its code is CNY (Chinese Yuan). Yuan is the basic unit of the Renminbi. The paper banknotes for the Renminbi come in several different denominations, and the most frequently used are 1 Yuan, 5 Yuan, 10 Yuan, 20 Yuan, 50 Yuan and 100 Yuan. On the back of these Yuan banknotes, you could find 6 most famous sites of China. They are Great Hall of the People in Beijing (100 Yuan), Potala Palace in Lhasa (50 Yuan), Li River in Guilin (20 Yuan), Kui Gate along Yangtze River (10 Yuan), Mount Tai in Shandong Province (5 Yuan) and West Lake in Hangzhou (1 Yuan).

Once planning a tour to China, you will find it is so hard to find the best places to go because there are so many options. It is even impossible to limit a list of China's superlative attractions to a mere 50. So, where to visit in China? May be you can take the top 6 places found on Chinese Banknotes into account. In this guide, we will introduce you these top 6 places separately, with travel photos of our customers listed.

1. The Great Hall of the People in Beijing - 100 Yuan Note (￥100)

Our Delighted Customers visited the Great Hall of the People in Beijing - 100 Yuan Note Place

When it comes to the most famous and most representative city of China, Beijing should be on the top of the answers. As the capital of China, Beijing gives visitors a glimpse of China’s modern, ancient, elegant, etc. There are so many places to visit in Beijing, like the world-renowned Great Wall, Forbidden City, Hutong, Tian'anmen Square, Temple of Heaven, Summer Palace, Beijing Olympic Park… Besides, the Great Hall of the People on the west side of Tian'anmen Square also deserves a short visit, because you can take photos with your 100 Yuan there.

Situated on the west side of Tiananmen Square, the Great Hall of the People covers 170,000 square meters. This building embodies traditional Chinese architectural style while incorporating elements of Western architecture. With 12 marble gateposts standing 25 meters high at the front, a peach-pink marble floor, and translucent quartz lamps hanging from the ceiling, the Great Hall of the People presents an atmosphere of refinement and elegance. In fact, the Great Hall of the People is primarily used for ceremonial activities, national meetings, and other special events, such as large anniversary celebrations and memorial services for former leaders.

Hot Beijing Tour Packages including a visit to Great Hall of the People:

☛ 4 Days Classic Beijing Tour Package (Leisure Paced)

☛ 3 Days Beijing Essential Short Stay Tour

☛ 2 Days Beijing Best Highlights Tour (Hotel Pickup)

2. The Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet - 50 Yuan Note (￥50)

Our Delighted Customers visited the Potala Palace in Lhasa - 50 Yuan Note Place

The Potala Palace is the symbol of Tibet and the center of Tibetan culture, history and religion. Besides, it is also a museum of arts which keeps more than 70,000 arts and more than 60,000 Buddhist scriptures. The palace looks much the same as it did back in the 1645s when it was rebuilt. And it retains the same majesty that it used to have. When visiting the Potala Palace, remember to have an in-depth explore of its precious relics of Buddhism and take selfies with this grand building also the image in the RMB 50 yuan banknote.

In December, 1994, the UNSESO announced Potala Palace as a World Heritage Site. Later in 2000 and 2001, Jokhang Temple and Norbulingka were added to the ensemble as extensions to Potala Palace. The UNSESO declared “the scale and artistic wealth of the Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, which represents the apogee of Tibetan architecture, make it an outstanding example of theocratic architecture, of which it was the last surviving example in the modern world.”

Hot Tibet Tour Packages including the visit of Potala Palace:

☛ 4 Days Lhasa Essence Private Tour

☛ 5 Days Lhasa & Namtso Private Tour

☛ 5 Days Tibet Real Life Experience Private Tour

3. Li River in Guilin, Guangxi Province - 20 Yuan Note (￥20)

Our Delighted Customers visited Li River in Guilin - 20 Yuan Note Place

When you ask a Chinese about the best tourist destination in China to appreciate the most picturesque mountains and rivers, Guilin must come to his or her mind first. Regarded as “the finest scenery under heaven”, Guilin is a dream tourist city for both domestic and overseas tourists. Guilin has a typical karst landform. Limestone spreading all over the city has been through weathering and erosion for billions of years and forms the world-renowned Guilin scenery, praised by numerous Chinese poets and artists and can be described as “thousands of pinnacles stand towering around, a river winds its way about the city”.

Among the many places to go in Guilin, Li River from Guilin downtown to Yangshuo country is our pick of best. The 83 km Li River is also called as a hundred-mile scroll. Along the crystal clear water of Li River are numerous green mountains, cliffs, waterfalls, oases and shoals, just like a classic scene in Chinese landscape painting. There are 3 ways to visit Li River, including by taking a leisure cruise ship, bamboo rafting and hiking. And only by taking a cruise ship can you get a same picture on the back of 20 Yuan banknotes.

Popular Guilin Tour Packages with the Li River Cruise Experience:

☛ 5 Days Best Guilin In-depth Vacation (Li River, Yangshuo & Longji Terraces)

☛ 4 Days Guilin Highlights Tour (Li River, Yangshuo & Longji Terraces)

☛ 3 Days Classic Guilin Tour - Guilin Brief Vacation

4. Kui Gate along Yangtze River - 10 Yuan Note (￥10)

Our Delighted Customers visited Kui Gate along Yangtze River - 10 Yuan Note Place

Kui Gate (Kuimen 夔门) is also known as Qutang Pass, which refers to the west entrance part of Qutang Gorge and the door for Three Gorges - the most attractive part of Yangtze River. Chijia Mountain in the south and Baiyan Mountain in the north, the distance between the two precipitous mountains is rather close, and the narrowest part is less than 50 meters, while the cliffs at the river side reach 350m high. It is regret if you visit Yangtze River but fail to see the Kui Gate.

As the iconic landmark in Yangtze River, it is the best viewing place for appreciate the magnificent scenery of this gate. You could meet with Kui Gate when you have a leisure Yangtze River cruise journey. And the best spot to take pictures with Kui Gate at White Emperor City, one of the most featured sites along Yangtze River. White Emperor Temple has a series of cultural and historical relics shown to all visitors. It’s a wonderful place to enjoy the view of Kui Gate and Qutang Gorge. The image in the RMB 10 yuan banknote is exactly the scenery of Kuimen Gate, magnificent and splendid. You can take out it to have a picture of the real one with the image on the note.

Hot Chosen China tours with Yangtze River Cruise Experience:

☛ 13 Days Classic China Vacation Tour with Yangtze Cruise

☛ 17 Days China Yangtze Tour with Tibet & Giant Panda Visit

☛ 21 Days China Holiday with Yangtze River Cruise Tour

5. Mount Tai in Shandong Province - 5 Yuan Note (￥5)

Our Delighted Customers visited Mount Tai in Shandong - 5 Yuan Note Place

Located in Taian, Shandong Province, the sacred Mount Tai (Eastern Yue) is a culturally and historically significant mountain and ranks on the top of the “Five Great Mountains in China” (Wu Yue) (The other four mountains are Mount Huashan (Western Yue) in Shaanxi, Mount Songshan (Center Yue) in Henan, Mount Heng (North Yue) in Shanxi and Mount Hengshan (Southern Yue) in Hunan). Visited by 72 Chinese emperors, it was the object of an imperial cult and Fengshan rituals (封禅大典) for nearly 2,000 years.

With nearly 3 billion years of natural evolution, Mount Tai was formed through complicated geological and biological processes, with a gigantic rock mass and dense vegetation about 1545 meters towering over the surrounding plateau and sea. It forms a unique landscape, boasting 156 peaks, 138 cliffs, 72 caves, 130 streams, 64 waterfalls, and 72 springs. This majestic mountain is an outstanding combination of a beautiful natural landscape and a splendid process of Chinese civilization for thousands of years. In 1987, Mount Tai was listed as both World Natural Heritage and World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO. On the way to the summit peak of Mount Tai - Jade Emperor Peak, you could take photos with the stone carving which can be find at the back of 5 Yuan.

Recommended Shandong Tour Packages including the visit of Mount Tai:

☛ 2 Days Enjoyable Mount Tai Hiking Tour

☛ 2 Days Most Classic Mount Tai Hiking with Sunrise Tour

☛ 4 Days Qingdao Qufu Mount Tai Essence Tour

6. West Lake in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province - 1 Yuan Note (￥1)

Our Delighted Customers visited West Lake in Hangzhou - 1 Yuan Note Place

Located in the west of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, West Lake (Xi Hu) long considered one of the scenic wonders of China and also the image in the RMB 1 yuan banknote. Listed as a World Heritage Site in 2011 by UNESCO, West Lake is the only lake heritage site in China. UNESCO describes it as “has influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea over the centuries” and “reflecting an idealized fusion between humans and nature”. The scenery of West Lake has always been praised by numerous Chinese poets and artists since ancient time for the perfection combination of stunning natural scenery and human culture.

As the most popular place in Hangzhou, West Lake is covering an area of 6.39 s.q.km and comprises lots of pagodas, temples, pavilions, gardens, causeways, as well as artificial islands. The whole lake is a wonderful place to spend time. Cruise on West Lake is another good way to experience the beautiful scenery. There are many kinds of boats, including gaily-painted motored pleasure-boat, motor-driven boat, rowing boat, and tourists can also choose to row or drive the boat by themselves. A tour to West Lake is quite an easy thing, because it sits in the city center area and can be reached by subway.

Most Popular Hangzhou Tour Packages including a visit to West Lake:

☛ 2 Days Hangzhou Essence Tour (Most Time-Efficient)

☛ 3 Days Best Hangzhou Tour with Wuzhen Water Town

☛ 5 Days Shanghai Hangzhou Suzhou Highlights Tour

Travel Top 6 China's Banknote Scenes with China Discovery

These top 6 Banknote Scenes spread China from south to north and from east to west. Feel hard to find the best places to visit in China? How about traveling with us and exploring these top China’s Banknote Scenes together? In every city, our professional local guide and driver will escort you from your hotel, train station, airport to all attractions with comfortable private licensed car and let you catch the highlights of every site and city, so you can get really relaxed on the way and focus on what you are interested in. The tour can be tailor made according to your plan, time and interests and demands. If you are interested, please feel free to contact us and tell us your needs, and we will customize a memorable tour for you!

Also, you can add more wonderful China destinations to this tour, such as Xian, Shanghai, Chengdu, Zhangjiajie, Huangshan, etc. Choose the places you love, and then our experienced travel consultants will take care of the rest. So you can get rid of the traveling route, hotel, transportation methods, restaurants, etc. and just need to focus on sightseeing!

Customized China's Banknote Scenes Tour of Tim from Australia