What is on the front of the Chinese 2 yuan note?

Two portraits of women from two of China's ethnic groups: a Uyghur woman and a Yi woman (the Yi are also known as the Nuosu). That pairing is the signature of the fourth series of the renminbi, which the People's Bank of China introduced from 1987. Instead of a single leader on every note, the smaller denominations each carry two people from different nationalities. Our history of the renminbi counts 14 nationalities across the series.

The writing on the 2 yuan reflects the same idea. Numista's catalogue records the bank's name and the value in several scripts besides Chinese characters, including Mongolian, Tibetan, Arabic and Latin scripts, along with ZHONGGUO RENMIN YINHANG (People's Bank of China) and ER YUAN (two yuan) in pinyin.

What is on the back of the 2 yuan note?

Southern Heaven Rock, a boulder on the shore of the South China Sea. In Chinese it is 南天一柱, and it stands at Tianya Haijiao, a scenic area about 24 kilometres west of the city of Sanya on Hainan Island. Wikipedia describes it as a boulder near the Rocks of Sun and Moon, with a poem by Fan Yun-Ti inscribed on its top. The banknote catalogue at banknotes.com describes the same design more plainly as a South Sea rocky shoreline.

Tianya Haijiao means, roughly, the edges of the heaven and the corners of the sea. The site is popularly considered the southernmost point of China's land area, although Wikipedia notes that Jinmu Cape actually is. Either way, the choice fits the series: the backs of the fourth series form a tour of the country's landscapes, and the 2 yuan takes the far south.

The fourth series reads like a map. The 2 yuan is the page for the far south: a single rock standing in the sea off Hainan.

How does the 2 yuan compare with the other fourth series yuan notes?

Each yuan denomination below the 50 pairs two portraits on the front with a landscape on the back. Wikipedia's table of the series gives the designs and the first issue dates.

Lined up this way, the 2 yuan carries the most southerly scene of the four. It is also the denomination with no successor. When the fifth series arrived in 1999 it added a 20 yuan and dropped the 2 yuan, so the fourth series notes are the last 2 yuan banknotes China issued.

When was the 2 yuan note issued and withdrawn?

The 2 yuan came in two editions, told apart by the year printed on the note. The 1980 edition was not issued until May 10, 1988. The 1990 edition followed on April 10, 1996. Both sit under Pick 885: banknotes.com files the 1980 note as number 885, and PMG's attributions place the 1990 note at 885b.

The end came in 2018. On March 22 that year the People's Bank of China announced that most of the fourth series, including the 2 yuan, would be recalled from April 30, 2018. Banks exchanged the recalled notes until April 30, 2019. Only the 1 jiao and 5 jiao notes were excluded from the recall.

Once the exchange window closed, the 2 yuan's working life was over. Today it is a note you collect rather than spend, and a closed chapter of the renminbi.

What should you look for when buying a 1990 2 yuan note?

Four checks cover most of what matters:

1. The date. 1990 on the note means the second edition (P-885b in PMG's numbering). A note dated 1980 is the first edition, a separate catalog entry.
2. The Pick number on the listing. The 2 yuan is P-885. Our guide to Pick numbers explains how the catalog numbers and letters work, which helps when a seller's number does not match the note.
3. Ultraviolet light. In August 2017 PMG created a separate attribution, 885bf, for 1990 2 yuan notes with an extensive pattern of green ultraviolet ink on both sides. PMG says these notes look greener than the regular issue even without a UV lamp, and show a vertical line running from the two dots at left to the seal. A small UV light is worth having before you buy or submit a run.
4. Size and consistency. banknotes.com gives the note's size as 145 by 64 mm. In a consecutive run, every note should match in size, color and centering.

Planet Banknote has the 1990 2 yuan as a set of ten consecutive uncirculated notes. A run like this shows the serial sequence and lets you compare every note under the same light.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is on the Chinese 2 yuan note?

Two women: one Uyghur and one Yi (Nuosu). The fourth series of the renminbi pairs portraits of people from different Chinese nationalities on its smaller notes, and the 2 yuan carries this pair on both its 1980 and 1990 editions.

What is on the back of the 2 yuan note?

Southern Heaven Rock (南天一柱), a boulder at the Tianya Haijiao scenic area about 24 kilometres west of Sanya on Hainan Island, on the South China Sea. Wikipedia notes a poem by Fan Yun-Ti inscribed on its top.

Is the Chinese 2 yuan note still legal tender?

The People's Bank of China recalled the fourth series 2 yuan from April 30, 2018, and banks exchanged the notes until April 30, 2019. China has not issued a 2 yuan note since: the fifth series, introduced in 1999, dropped the denomination.

What is the Pick number of the 1990 2 yuan?

P-885b. The 2 yuan is Pick 885, and PMG's attributions place the 1990 edition at 885b, with 885bf for the fluorescent variety it recognized in 2017.

What is the fluorescent 1990 2 yuan variety?

A variety of the 1990 2 yuan that shows an extensive pattern of green ink on both sides under ultraviolet light. PMG attributes it as 885bf (885bf* for replacements) and says the paper also looks greener than the regular issue in normal light.

When was the 1990 2 yuan note issued?

On April 10, 1996. The 1990 date on the note marks the edition, not the release year. The earlier 1980 edition was issued on May 10, 1988.