Lately, I’ve noticed spray-painted advertisements for fake currency. Also, public opinion now holds that one should only give a taxi driver as close to exact change as possible, since handing over a 100 rmb note will usually result in a portion of fake change. I have been specially warned by concerned friends because I fit the profile of the forgers’ mark – foreign and travels between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. Indeed, forgers approach taxi drivers who are waiting to pick-up fares at the Huanggang border.

According to friends, the forgers can afford to be so blatent because the police have neither the time nor the inclination to take care of something that marks should be able to handle themselves. They point to cashiers, shopkeepers, and tellers as examples of people who check to see if a bill is genuine before accepting it. Ordinary people, they say, must take the same precautions.