In Cuba, the dollar is not hard currency, but peso. Almost all consumption in Cuba is in pesos, nothing else.

This is actually very easy to understand. Although the relationship between the United States and Cuba began to ease after Obama shook hands with Cuban leaders in 20 14, from the perspective of currency exchange, it is not as cost-effective to exchange US dollars for pesos locally, and there is a handling fee for exchanging US dollars for pesos locally. I wonder if this is an alternative "oppression".

Speaking of Cuban pesos, there are actually two kinds. One is the aforementioned foreign exchange peso, commonly known as convertible peso, abbreviated as CUC. This kind of peso is mainly used by "foreigners", and there are often exchange points under larger hotels. In Cuba, "foreigners" use CUC in general stores, hotels and other consumer places, which is equivalent to China's "foreign exchange roll" in earlier years, but it is more popular.

There is also a kind of peso in Cuba called CUP (also called Cuban peso), which is for local people. Local people use CUP for their wages and daily necessities, and from the exchange rate point of view, 1CUC is approximately equal to 24~25 CUP, which means the value is much lower. However, BUT, from a practical point of view, it is a great value and a cost to use CUP locally. "Foreigners" spend CUC, while locals use cups. The understanding of the price difference here is a bit difficult for you to understand.

For example, in Cuba, because the industry was relatively weak before, most of the local buses were imported from China, and Cuba's imports were somewhat similar to the national centralized procurement. The price of buying a China bus is assumed to be 60,000 US dollars, but the price of selling it to local transportation enterprises after import is only tens of thousands of cups. There is a big price gap here. Under the planned economy system, more reasons come from the state's own subsidies.

However, ordinary "foreigners" can't enjoy the "state subsidies" of this socialist country. According to local people, when you buy some local goods with cups, you will need to show your Cuban local identification, or you will need a "ration index" to buy some goods, as China did in the past. This artifact appeared in China in the early years, but unfortunately it was not seen.

It is particularly worth mentioning that in Cuba, there are actually very few POSE machines, and consumption is often dominated by cash. If you have the desire to buy locally, try to prepare some cash. What is particularly interesting is that CUC actually has the denomination of 3 yuan, which seriously subverts my understanding of the denomination of paper money. I once suspected that it was counterfeit money, but it was not.

Second, catering.

As a veteran foodie, exploring and loving catering is an unspeakable pleasure.