Can I spend Renminbi in Hong Kong?
While travelling in Hong Kong, I noticed signs at several vendors advertising prices with the 元 character, which from my visit to Shanghai I recognized as the symbol for Yuán.
Since Hong Kong has its own currency, this confused me. Do vendors accept Renminbi in Hong Kong? Does it vary depending on where you go, or is acceptance (or non-acceptance) universal? Does an exchange rate apply, or are HKD and RMB considered interchangeable in Hong Kong?
Best Answer
?, traditional Chinese ?, is the generic Chinese character for "unit of currency" and is used to refer to the local currency: RMB in China, HKD in Hong Kong, SGD in Singapore, etc. So odds are pretty high the signs you saw were actually for prices in HKD.
While many Hong Kong shops do accept RMB, it's just a service for Chinese travelers and the exchange rate will not be in the buyer's favor. You will not have much luck using RMB for buying a bowl of noodles. However, there's an easy solution: visit any of the foreign exchange shops found on every corner, many of which offer excellent rates for RMB to HKD.
Irrelevant but fun fact: the Japanese yen and the Korean won are also cognates of the character "yuan", although the Japanese simplified their character differently into ?.
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Answer 2
Looking around online (ask.com, Yahoo Answers), the conclusion seems to be that you can spend RMB only in certain bigger shops that advertise this with the Yuán sticker on their window or the cash register. For other smaller shops, street vendors or taxis you can not use RMB.
As usual the exchange rate you get is not as good as through a bank, currency exchange or ATM.
My advice would be to always use the local currency.
Answer 3
No you cannot reliably use Renminbi/Yuan in Hong Kong, you will have to exchange it.
Taxis generally do not accept them. Other shops generally do not display if they accept RMB or not, and if they accept it, you will most likely get change back in HKD.
You can either exchange at a bank or at one of the hundreds of money changers in Hong Kong. To my knowledge, HSBC is giving the best rates.
Answer 4
The supermarket chains in Hong Kong (such as Welcome) do accept RMB at a (not great) fixed rate. There are otherwise no fixed rules about which businesses accept RMB, however it is better to assume that most businesses do not.
That said, Hong Kong is changing fast with the increasing amount of mainland tourists. RMB usage is definitely rising throughout the city.
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