The outlawed Falun Gong spiritual group is making itself heard again on the mainland, using a novel method to spread its message and mark the 10th anniversary of its banning.
The group is printing messages on real renminbi banknotes and putting the marked money back into circulation.
In Yunnan province in the southwest, vendors and shopkeepers said they had received many 'Falun Gong notes' over the Lunar New Year holiday - traditionally a peak shopping season.
'I have already received four such banknotes this morning,' a fruit vendor in Kunming , capital of Yunnan, complained.
'[The messages] are in fine print, and the ink colour is very close to the original colour of the money. You have to look closely to notice.
'I dare not use the money; otherwise the police might think I'm the one distributing them. I tried to return them to banks, but bank staff refused to take them, even though these are real banknotes.'
The messages from the spiritual group defend its beliefs and ask the central government to stop persecuting its members.