Liaoning 16 - Chinese Aircraft Carrier

The Liaoning — hull number 16 — was originally laid down as the Soviet carrier Varyag by the Nikolayev South shipyard in Ukraine. Construction stalled with the Soviet collapse, and the unfinished hull sat rusting at Nikolayev until 1998, when a Chinese company purchased it ostensibly as a floating casino. Ukrainian authorities stripped remaining weapons and sensitive equipment before transfer. China towed it to Dalian, where refitting took over a decade before the vessel was commissioned into the People's Liberation Army Navy in 2012.

Commemorative notes of this type fall outside the People's Bank of China's standard circulation series — issued as collectibles, they carry face value in name only.