One of the tasks that are necessary for one who is heading off to teach ESL in China, is to get some Chinese money which is often referred to as “yuan” (yuán – 元), or as “kuai” (kuài – 块) by the locals, or officially as “renminbi” (rén mín bì – 人民币).
Before you leave your home country, make sure that you know when you will get your first pay. That will determine approximately how much Chinese money you will need to take with you. A good idea is to take a month’s salary if you are only to be paid at the end of the first month of teaching. If you get your salary in advance, you need a lot less money. For our purposes, we are taking just enough for the first week of groceries and spending money as C.I.T. pays at the start of the month.