1 Yuan 1999, China
| in Krause book | Number: 895с |
| Years of issue: | 30.07.2004 |
| Edition: | |
| Signatures: | no signature |
| Serie: | 1999 Issue |
| Specimen of: | 1999 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 130 х 63 |
| Printer: | China Banknote Printing and Minting Corporation (CBPM) |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
Orchid flower (which one, exactly, I am trying to find out at the moment).
Avers:
The engraving on banknote was made after this common photo of Mao Zedong (毛澤東) and working youngsters by Chen Shi Lin - former technical director of the Chinese news agency "Xinhua".
Mao Zedong or Mao Tse-tung (December 26, 1893 – September 9, 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary, poet, political theorist and founding father of the People's Republic of China, which he governed as the Chairman of the Communist Party of China from its establishment in 1949, until his death in 1976. His Marxist–Leninist theories, military strategies, and political policies are collectively known as Maoism or Marxism-Leninism-Maoism.
Born the son of a wealthy farmer in Shaoshan, Hunan, Mao adopted a Chinese nationalist and anti-imperialist outlook in early life, particularly influenced by the events of the Xinhai Revolution of 1911 and May Fourth Movement of 1919. Mao adopted Marxism–Leninism while working at Peking University and became a founding member of the Communist Party of China (CPC), leading the Autumn Harvest Uprising in 1927. During the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang (KMT) and the CPC, Mao helped to found the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, led the Jiangxi Soviet's radical land policies and ultimately became head of the CPC during the Long March. Although the CPC temporarily allied with the KMT under the United Front during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945), after Japan's defeat China's civil war resumed and in 1949 Mao's forces defeated the Nationalists who withdrew to Taiwan.
On 1 October 1949, Mao proclaimed the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC), a one-party state controlled by the CPC. In the following years Mao solidified his control through a campaign of classicide against landlords, and a mass purge of perceived enemies of the state he termed as "counter-revolutionaries" alleged to have caused between 2,000,000 to 6,000,000 deaths. (Mao himself admitting 800,000 deaths in the classicide and 712,000 in the suppression of Counterrevolutionaries) In 1957, he launched the Great Leap Forward campaign that aimed to rapidly transform China's economy from an agrarian economy to an industrial one. The campaign contributed to a widespread famine, whose death toll is estimated at between 15,000,000 and 55,000,000. In 1966, he initiated the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, a program to remove "counter-revolutionary" elements of Chinese society that lasted 10 years and which was marked by violent class struggle that killed 400,000 to 10,000,000 people, widespread destruction of cultural artifacts and unprecedented elevation of Mao's personality cult. In 1972, Mao welcomed American President Richard Nixon in Beijing, signalling a policy of opening China, which was furthered under the rule of Deng Xiaoping (1978–1992). Mao suffered a series of heart attacks in 1976, and died in September, aged 82. He was succeeded as Paramount leader by Hua Guofeng (1976–1978), who was quickly sidelined and replaced by Deng.
A controversial figure, Mao is regarded as one of the most important individuals in modern world history, and is also known as a theorist, military strategist, poet and visionary. Supporters credit him with driving imperialism out of China, modernizing China and building it into a world power, promoting the status of women, improving education and health care, and increasing life expectancy as China's population grew from around 550 million to over 900 million under his leadership. In contrast, critics consider him a dictator comparable to Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin who damaged traditional Chinese culture, as well as considering him a perpetrator of human rights abuses, and they estimate that Mao was responsible for 40 to 70 million deaths through starvation, prison labour and executions, which would rank his tenure as the top incidence of excess mortality in human history. 
Top left is the coat of arms of China is in top left corner.
The national emblem of the People's Republic of China contains in a red circle a representation of Tiananmen Gate, the entrance gate to the Forbidden City, where Mao declared the foundation of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in 1949. Above this representation are the five stars found on the national flag. The largest star represents the Communist Party of China, while the four smaller stars represent the four social classes as defined in Maoism. The outer border of the red circle shows sheaves of wheat and the inner sheaves of rice, which together represent agricultural workers. At the center of the lower portion of the border is a cog-wheel that represents industrial workers.
The Orchid flower is under denomination. Which one, exactly, I am trying to find out at the moment.
Stylized birds on background are centered, the Braille dots for the visually impaired are in lower left.
Denominations in numerals are in top right corner and centered. Also centered in words.
Revers:
The "Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon" (三潭印月), depicting lanterns in water on West Lake in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang province.
In fact, it is a circular dam. In the full moon of August, the moon reflected from the smooth surface of these small ponds. It was a custom these days to light candles that were reflected in the moon water. The ponds are now planted with lotuses.
West Lake (Chinese: 西湖; pinyin: Xī Hú; Wu: Si-wu) is a freshwater lake in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province in eastern China. It is divided into five sections by three causeways. There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands within the lake.
West Lake has influenced poets and painters throughout Chinese history for its natural beauty and historic relics, and it has also been among the most important sources of inspiration for Chinese garden designers. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, described as having "influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea over the centuries" and reflecting "an idealized fusion between humans and nature".
Translated from Chinese, Sihu means "West Lake" - in former times it was located to the west of the city of Hangzhou, and now - in the city. The lake has a long history. According to legend, it was formed from a beautiful pearl that fell from the sky, which the Jade Dragon and Golden Phoenix carved. According to another legend, at the bottom of the lake there is the Golden Bull (its statue stands at the shore) and spewes out streams of water, maintaining a constant level of the lake.
According to scientific data, the lake is the former lagoon of the Qiantang River, its age is relatively small - about 2 thousand years. Now the lake covers an area of about 9 square kilometers - 3 kilometers in length, and 3 in width. And once it was twice less and was used for the long time of irrigation. However, there were times when it also occupied a large area.
The construction of Sihu is due to two poet-governors, who drew attention to the beauty of the place and sang it in their poems, and also did a lot to equip the lake and shores. Their names are reflected in the names of the dams - Baidi (白堤) and Sudi (苏堤).
Poet Bai Juyi 白居易 (772-846), in order to save the lake's waters, which were used to irrigate fields, built a dam with which one could also admire the surrounding landscapes. Subsequently, it was flooded, but the people in memory of the governor-governor, built another and named it by his name. At present, the Baydi Dam is fortified and expanded, trees, flowers are planted along its banks, bridges and pavilions are built.
Dam Sudi, which has a length of 2600 meters and 6 arched bridges, is named after another poet-governor - Su Dongpo (currently named Su Shi (轼 轼) 1037-1101). He was able to organize large-scale works to clean the lake, and the extracted clay went to the construction of a dam. It was Su Dongpo who first used the phrase "Sihu" in an official document, thus giving the name to the lake.
The Baydi Dam connects the shore with the largest island on the lake - Gushan (孤山) ("Lonely Mountain"), which is famous for its emerald green of century-old trees, winding paths, spring flowering of camellias and orchids. On the shore stretched plum garden. According to legend, here lived alone poet Lin Hejing (967-1028), who grew plums and bred storks. In memory of him on the shore is a gazebo Fanhatin - "Gazebo of departing storks." Here, in the old garden, is the Society of Seal Carvers.
Another famous island of Xihu is Xiaoingzhou (瀛洲 瀛洲), where there are "three whirlpools in which the moon reflects" (三潭印月). In fact, it is a circular dam. In the full moon of August, the moon reflected from the smooth surface of these small lakes. It was a custom these days to light candles that were reflected in the moon water. The pools are now planted with lotuses. On the shores of the lake is a huge park, one of the oldest in China. Magnolia, plum miehua, hibiscus, willow, peach, lotus and iris grow there. Flowering autumn osmanthus have become a symbol of Hangzhou.
In 2002, the Sihu tourist zone was open to the public free of charge, and since then it has become China's first and only free touristic state value "5A". Currently, the tourist zone of Sihu annually attracts 30 million tourists. June 24, 2011 at the regular session of UNESCO in Paris, it was decided to make Lake Xihu in the list of World Cultural Heritage.
According to the representatives of UNESCO, the hilly unique landscape of Lake Sihu, on the one hand, is an outstanding natural monument, on the other - an excellent example of traditional Chinese aesthetic perception. Local landscapes have had a big impact on park building not only in China, but all over the world. At a session in Paris, the UN experts defeated making every effort to preserve the beauty and pristine nature of Lake Xihu. (anashina.com .rus)
Right of center is the year of issue.
Each note has the words "People's Bank of China" as well as the denomination in the Uyghur, Tibetan and Mongolian (but no Zhuang since Zhuang alphabet was not invented yet) languages on the back, which has since appeared in each series of Renminbi notes.
Denominations in numerals are in three corners.
Comments:
An acquaintance of mine made the following observation about the Zhuang language (the inscription on which is present on the reverse of the banknote):
"Some letters at the end of syllables in Zhuang writing are not readable, but indicate the pitch (Zhuang is a tonal language).
And somehow, describing similar things to banknotes, I tried, as best I could, to read what was written out loud, well, purely for a more complete immersion in the topic. My household was asleep at that moment, and therefore I tried to do it in a whisper.
There was no end to surprise!
It's impossible to whisper!
After all, it is necessary to reflect the pitch in pronunciation, and this is achieved only by "turning on" the sound!
I came to the conclusion that they are all much more honest than us :) They cannot whisper something!"
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