A Qinghai Coin Story

So, I'm on holiday in Qinghai (Qingwhere? It's basically north Tibet, but not called Tibet, but many people who live in the region are Tibetan, the Dalai Lama is from close to the capital Xining)

I really didn't think that much about coins other than to look up what Tibetan coins there were, but haven't see any. But I did go to the regional museum and on the same floor I saw a rather long counter with coins and banknotes. However before I got there a little boy squatted down and peed all over the floor while his father was engrossed in some banknotes.

Anyway, got to the counter avoiding the pee and what do I see? The 29 olympic 50ps, rather strange to see my coin in the middle of China (well the edge of the Han Chinese world really) and I thought about telling the guy but my Chinese isn't that good.

Next stop was Kumbum. No, I didn't make that up, there is a Bhuddist Monastry near Xining called Kumbum in Tibetan and Ta'er si in Chinese which is rather more acceptable I guess. There I managed to find a 1 fen coin on the floor, rather strange, until I realised that people put money as offerings and throughout my time in the monastry I saw 2 and 5 fen coins along with loads of the usual banknotes and coins stuck to statues of animals, or just stuffed into some nook or cranny. The temptation to swap a shiny 5 fen coin for a 1 jiao note was strong but I thought it a little too wrong, it even made me feel guilty about the coin I have picked up out of a crack in the floor.

Then later on outside the monastry they were selling coins. I went to have a look and saw some "old coins" and turned one over "The Bepublic of China", hmm, convincing, I told the woman they were all fake but she didn't understand mandarin at the moment in time.

Since that day it has been less coiny, and more spectacular scenery and less touristy monastries with everyone saying hello to me for being one of the very few foreigners in town.