The bank note with a face value of 10 yuan marks the Beijing Olympic Games. One side features the National Stadium or the Bird's Nest and the emblem of Beijing Games, both of which are set against the backdrop of the Temple of Heaven, one of the country's best known landmarks. [Photo: Chinadaily.com]

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) will launch a commemorative Olympic bank note from Wednesday, July 9 at 8.30am in Beijing. The notes will be distributed at 300 branches of five major commercial banks.

According to the operations office of PBOC, it takes a while from PBOC storage  to bank branches, for the bank note distribution includes logistical issues. The operations office also said the number of notes distributed by a bank would depend on the size of its branch. Residents will be alloted a limited number of Olympic notes since only 6 million of them will be issued in China.

The five commercial banks are Industrial Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), China Construction Bank (CCB), Bank of China and Bank of Communications. For a list of the distribution branches, you can log onto www.beijing.gov.cn.

The bank note with a face value of 10 yuan marks the Beijing Olympic Games. One side features the National Stadium or the Bird's Nest and the emblem of Beijing Games, both of which are set against the backdrop of the Temple of Heaven, one of the country's best known landmarks. The other side shows Discobulus, a famous ancient Greek marble statute of a discus thrower.

Yang Yong, Lisa Liu, CRI Webcast